I Love Rosemary Watson

Yesterday was Salsa Garden Day

2012-01-30T14:13:00.000-08:00

At my mom's we had another huge garden bed to fill, this time with all the best things that go into my favorite food- salsa. Here's our layout:

The only thing we didn't plant yesterday was the garlic {we're waiting until October for that} and the tomatillos, because we didn't see any at A & P. I'm hoping they'll get some in soon, otherwise I may have to get crazy and buy a tomatillo at the Farmer's Market and try planting the seeds. We planted some geraniums on the edges of the peppers because they are beautiful and are supposed to be beneficial to pepper plants. I am going to be in heaven in a few months when we can make fresh salsa from all our harvested veggies!

As for my small scale garden, the lettuces are still going strong, as are my arugula {I had one bolt on me this weekend, but the rest seem be content in this mild weather}.

But what I am MOST excited about is my cauliflower! I peeked in on them today after I noticed they had grown quite a bit and behold! little baby cauliflowers

It's kind of hard to see because the lighting is so bright, but I love these little cauliflower heads. They took a while to show up, but they'll be worth the wait.

Foto Friday: Week 21

2012-01-27T08:50:00.000-08:00

My kids fight. I'm talking all. day. long. They fight about anything and everything under the sun. Which cup they drink out of, what chair they want to sit in, what character they get to be when watching Disney Junior, what song to play on the piano, who gets to hold Mickey & Minnie for the next 30 seconds.... you name it, there will be a battle for it.

But once every so often, I get the pleasure to witness moments of perfect harmony. Moments such as this one where everyone can play the piano and sing Twinkle Twinkle all together and all is right in this crazy world. Thank heavens I snapped this photo while it lasted because 5 minutes later they commenced fighting over who's turn it was to sing. Sigh. Such precious moments.

Visit the other girls of Foto Friday to see what they have under their sleeves this week!

Free Dress Day

2012-01-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

Olivia wears uniforms to school. This is a huge blessing, yet also a curse when it comes tome for "Free Dress Day" because since she gets to wear whatever she {meaning I} wants, it has to be extra fabulous. She informed me today when she got home from school that tomorrow is one of those coveted Free Dress Days. So, I'm on the hunt for a quick, easy, and oh so cute dress to sew for her lickety split and wear to school tomorrow.

Source: shwinandshwin.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: sewingin-nomansland.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: homemade.tipjunkie.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: laurawinslowphotography.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: elizabethkartchner.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: homemadebyjill.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: sandrinecastellan.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

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Source: shopbelle.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

There's so many options to choose from! Which one is your favorite?

Why has it taken me this long?

2012-01-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

This officially has rocked my world. My sister Ashly let me borrow the first book- which I devoured in 3 hours. I am foaming at the mouth to get my hands on the second book, also to get a little of this in my life.

Who wants to go to the premiere with me?

Creative Team Tuesday: Free Valentines Printable!

2012-01-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

It's Tuesday, so that means some fabulous Love Day Inspiration and a FREE Printable I created with Rhonna Designs!

photo embellished using Rhonna Designs Kiss Me Border Kit

One of my most favorite songs happens to be La Vie En Rose, sung by the beautiful Edith Piaff. Have you heard it? It's wonderful.

The lyrics are so mesmerizing, I thought they would be perfect to display as art in my house.

I designed it using the Kiss Me Papers from Rhonna Designs- isn't the quatrefoil pattern lovely with the blush & gold tones?

You can download the Printable PDF here, add some glitter if you'd fancy, and frame for some instant art!

THE FINE PRINT ;)

Another productive day in the garden

2012-01-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

After much research and pinterest investigating, I was ready to plant the next piece of my parents' garden. Today was potato day! I filled a large round planter with a tree in it with potatoes, peas, and petunias-next I will put in dill as a border and add alyssum flowers in with the petunias.

My layout was roughly like this {I didn't do any string this time and just eyeballed it!}

I can't wait until we start seeing little sproutlets in the ground. Until then, I have a lot more digging in the dirt to do- I think I am going to try planting a potato plant in a laundry basket like this idea I spied on Pinterest:

Source: vegetablegardener.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Foto Friday {On Wednesday}- Week 19

2012-01-18T08:35:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late posting last week's Foto Friday, but here's my Reflection post! It makes me realize how lucky I am that I got twins and not quadruplets! Can you IMAGINE the teeth brushing?

And don't forget the other ladies of Foto Friday!

Creative Team Tuesday: Kiss Me Collection Preview

2012-01-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

Rhonna has worked her magic for the sweetest Valentines Kit evah! Check out her new Kiss me Collection to cover all your Love Day decorating, scrapbooking, valentines, facebook page, and anything else you can think of!

Kiss Me Border Kit

Kiss Me Brushes Kit

Kiss Me Coverpage Kit

$2.99

Kiss Me Papers Kit

$10

Kiss Me Pieces Kit

Kiss Me Printables Kit

Kiss Me Valentine Kit

Kiss Me Word Art Kit

And if you want the whole spicy enchilada, you can get ALL the Kiss me Kits in this fabulous bundle!

Kiss Me Kits Bundle

$24

There is oh-so-much you can do with these kits, I can't wait to get started today! But first I MUST get to the store and buy some white cardstock, some ink, some coffee filters, and some tissue paper to start creating all my Valentines Day fanciness!

Valentines Ideas & Crafts

2012-01-16T20:24:00.000-08:00

I've been gathering ideas to decorate my house for Love Day, and look at all the fun stuff I've found!

Source: rhonnadesigns.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: margieromney-aslett.typepad.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: ruffledblog.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: duitang.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: 1.bp.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: snowybliss.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: thecraftingchicks.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

I can't wait to dive into some Love Day Creativity tomorrow!

Valentines Day One Month Away

2012-01-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

Now is the time to start prepping for the sweetest Valentines Day ever. It's so fun to bring out the pinks and sprinkle your house with love and glitter. These images above struck my fancy and will be inspiring all my decor, style, food, and prezzies this year- isn't it darling?

More January Gardening

2012-01-13T09:29:00.000-08:00

It's crazy to think how fast to have to prep everything for gardening here in AZ. Like Kelly told us at hello there! house in October- you can literally plant and harvest something every single day here. I've finished up the plan for the rest of my mom's garden bed, and we planted most of the seeds that can be planted now. As you can see- everything but the tomatoes can start going in the ground. I found this awesome planting calendar at the Urban Farm site, and I make reference to it anytime I think about planting anything.

Have you ever eaten Heirloom tomatoes? They are fascinating to me- I'm sure they're not easy to grow, so I'll have to take extra special care with some of them- but they look so gorgeous!

Source: store.tomatofest.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

My New Toy {And A Free Wood Grain Texture!}

2012-01-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

Soooo, I got Adobe CS5.5 for my birthday, and let me tell you- it's unreal the things you can do with all this software. I've been stuck to my computer for the last 7 hours and I created a few different things and something to share with everyone today!

A wood grain texture! You can use it as a background or as clip-art or for whatever you wish! I just followed this tutorial and it was easy as pie. I love technology. Wood grain is so versatile- look how gorgeous it is in these wedding invites:

Source: ohsobeautifulpaper.com via e on Pinterest

Source: ohsobeautifulpaper.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

I think I'll make the kids some woodland themed Valentines with my new design

Oh my aching back

2012-01-11T17:25:00.000-08:00

Being so out of shape is a huge handicap when you are throwing around a pick axe and breaking up the Arizona clay that hasn't been touched in over a decade.

My parents have a gorgeous backyard that has had designated garden space since they moved in 15 years ago, but hasn't had a garden since ever. Since I have been bit by the garden bug and have to wait to build my own garden boxes at home until we finish the chicken coop, I suggested to my mother that we should start a garden at her house, since the boxes have been there vacant waiting for me to discover my gardening obsession. So, today we took a trip to A & P Nursery, came home, and got to work.

Her garden boxes are REALLY long, so this is just the first half of ONE of her boxes in the garden. I researched a TON of different things, especially companion planting {what to plant with things to put nutrients in the soil, protect your vegetables, etc} and came up with the above Garden Plan. I'll share the layout for the other half tomorrow. Then we move on to another bed that is half this size {I'm thinking cucumbers}, then the FOUR other long beds to be filled with watermelons, pumpkins, zuchinnis, and their planting companions. I can hardly contain my excitement!

A Typical Monday

2012-01-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

I had a day full of organizing, gardening, vacuuming, laundry, and chasing around 5 kids. I made Braden take a minute to snap a photo for a project I'm working on, with a peek at the chicken run I featured on hello there! house today. Head on over there for a better look of what we worked on this weekend. Now I'm off to relax and watch some College Football- Roll Tide!

Foto Friday: Week 18

2012-01-06T08:33:00.000-08:00

I've been delving into my new gardening obsession, and planted some seeds for the very first time into my raised beds. I started out slow with putting in lettuce transplants, which are doing phenomenal by the way, but I've been so nervous trying to grow something from a seed. Kelly sent me some seed packets and I put some seeds into the ground. As I walked out to my garden at the beginning of this week, what did I see? Little sproutlets peeking out of the soil, and my heart leapt! New life!

I don't have a macro lens, so this is as good of a shot I as could get, but I'm so thrilled about this major acheivement! Pretty soon, these will be Endive greens that we will gobble up. We've had a fabulous crop of lettuce from those transplants that we got out and pick from everyday to create the BEST salads I have ever had.

Now bounce over to the other ladies of Foto Friday's blogs to see their Beginnings posts

This week has been devoted to deep cleaning

2012-01-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

I've scrubbed and scoured and washed every inch of my house EXCEPT my kids rooms. I don't know if I have it in me to take it on today- but I must try since we break ground on our chicken coop TOMORROW! Squeee! So thrilled to finally start this, since in no time our chickens will start laying eggs.

I've drawn up plans and Braden is getting all the supplies together so we can get this thing in gear.

Until then though, I will try and find the strength to finish the last room- but oh! I have the best thing to share. I gathered up a TON of homemade cleaning recipes while I was on my cleaning rampage and shared them all on the hello there! house blog! Head on over there for a printable PDF that you can stick on your fridge to have handy!

Creative Team Tuesday: New Kits for the New Year

2012-01-03T20:20:00.000-08:00

In true Rhonna fashion, New Years 2012 kits were released a couple of days before New Years Eve, and I had a BLAST creating with them. For the first time in my life, I actually decorated for New Years and I am addicted to these amazing new clock printables. So many uses for them all throughout the year....check them out

It's Time Banner Printables

It's Time Brush Kit

It's Time Printable Hats

It's Time Clock Printable

It's Time Colored Art Kit

It's Time Kits Bundle

$12 for all the above kits!

Here are some of the projects I made up in my house right now

Rhonna has also released some fabulous calendar and planner printables to get you all ready to go and organized for 2012. I'll be working on my projects for next week- stay tuned for those!

New Year New Design

2012-01-02T18:22:00.000-08:00

I love New Years. It's a fresh start; an opportunity to become whomever you want to be. Whether it's a new wardrobe direction, a new haircut, a home redecorating project, or a blog refresh- it feels so good to get a makeover. I've split my time today between deep cleaning my house and working on my new blog design and I must say, I'm loving where it's going so far. I always begin with finding color inspiration and this time I used the Pantone Color of The Year {Tangerine Tango} as a starting point and went from there.

Such a fun process because it forces me to reflect on myself and the things I'd like to work on for the upcoming year. I have a lot to learn, but I've come such a long way so far. I have lots of big plans for 2012, but I'm determined to take it slow and keep my life as simplified as possible. Enjoy the special moments I have everyday with my family and appreciate all the wonderful things I am lucky to have in my life. I keep thinking it can't get much better than this, but it seems like each year is more wonderful than the last. Cheers to a productive and peaceful 2012.

Welcome 2012

2012-01-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

This left me utterly delighted and excited for the upcoming year. Don't these two just make you smile?

Workin on a new design for the blog..... it's going to be gorgeous, darling ;)

On The Twelfth Day of Christmas

2011-12-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

Untitled from Rosemary Watson on Vimeo.

On The Ninth Day of Christmas

2011-12-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

My true love gave to me.............

I've got some fan-taaas-tic cookies to share with you guys. I've been been searching high and lo for the best gingerbread cookie around, when I spotted THIS:

Source: sweetopia.net via Rosemary on Pinterest

Are these not the sweetest gingerbreads you've ever seen? And the glitter? It's just perfect. The recipe is from Sweetopia, converted to US measurements

I'll be showing how mine turned out tomorrow!

On The Eighth Day of Christmas

2011-12-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

For Olivia's Winter Wonderland class party, I was in charge of coming up with an activity for the kids to do in between their story time and the rotating centers. After about 2 seconds of thought, I decided on Christmas Carols. I LOVE Christmas carols. Someday I want to have a horse drawn hay-ride to go around and sing carols with hot chocolate, but now I must be content with 50 kindergartners singing and jingling their jingle bells I brought them.

Next year I'm considering having a neighborhood Cocoa, Carols, & Cookies party, so any of my neighbors, feel free to weigh in if that sounds like a good idea!

On The Seventh Day of Christmas

2011-12-22T13:38:00.000-08:00

Better late than never, right? I fell off the blogging wagon Tuesday trying to get these dang skirts done! They are so easy, but a little time consuming and any time around the holidays is non-existent in my opinion. So, without further ado........

I have made this wonderful pattern from Grand Revival before, and I saw christmas twirly skirts at some boutiques this fall with tulle in them and I knew I had to make them for the twinsies.

Evelyn was my reluctant model this morning- she loves pretties in her hair and twirlies on her hips, but she DOES NOT like Momma taking pictures of her. Especially when she just wants to play in the mud by the chickens : /

Anywhoo the skirts are super simple, just follow the Grand Revival directions and then grab a spool of 5 or 6" wide tulle, sew a straight line the middle of a few yards of it and gather. Once you have a strand of gathered tulle, just fold hot dog style with the seam on the top and pin between the layers before you sew them together. Instead of hemming the bottoms of the ruffles, I cut them with pinking shears- makes it cute and shabby. And since I had a plethora of scraps laying around, I made the strips patchwork instead of a solid fabric. More time consuming, but really fun and "free". Don't you love that? Cuter and cheaper is worth extra effort I always say!

Ring in the New Year with some new Portraits!

2011-12-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

How about we start 2012 off right? Let's talk Mini Photography Sessions- I love them because you get a lot of bang for your buck, awesome photos to display on your walls once you take down your Christmas decorations, use them for your facebook profile, put them in your 365 scrapbooks, send them to relatives since you never got around to sending out those Christmas cards {blush}, there's so many reasons to get some new photos taken for New Years! And now, here's the perfect opportunity

My sister Eryn & I are now offering up EIGHT mini sessions each day. The sessions will be held in my parents fabulous backyard in Mesa {2332 E. Emelita Cir. Mesa, AZ 85204) with our own personal flair and props. We want some fun, festive people to come have some fun with us next Friday and get some photos taken, for just $50! Eryn goes back to Utah in January, so we will be offering more mini sessions throughout all of 2012 in both AZ and UT! Keep checking my blog for a heads up on all our holiday sessions, senior photo specials, family sessions, and more. To reserve your session, visit our website at heirloom-photo.com

On The Sixth Day of Christmas

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Card time! Actually it's a little late for Christmas Cards, but again I am a procrastinator so I've waited 6 days before Christmas to feature them. It's better late than never, right? Of course, Rhonna Designs has got you covered with the most AMAZING card designs this year

{Look familiar? I used this kit for the 12 days of Christmas Header!}

Christmas Junque Card Kit

It's so easy to have a fabulous Christmas Card with these kits. Each kit come with a few different photo layout designs, a newsletter design, address wrap labels and more! You can have a Couture Christmas Card Suite look for just $15!

FREE Merry Christmas Card

And if you are trying to save your pennies this year, Rhonna has even designed a FREE Card for you to try out! I'm guessing you'll fall in love and want to try all kinds of Rhonna Designs Products one you give it a shot and see how easy it is!

On The Fifth Day of Christmas

2011-12-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

For those of you that have signed up for the Rhonna Designs Newsletter- you probably already know about the Free Gift she was giving away when you purchased the new Chevron Tool Kit or the Christmas Junque Flags & Tags Kit {and if you are not signed up, you should do that today so you know when all the awesome new products and discount codes are given out!}

I fell so madly in love with the Printable Art that I just HAD to make more, so I used all of the Christmas Kits from Rhonna Designs to layer and mix and match to get 4 more pieces of art to display on my wall

I started off all my designs in Photoshop as an 8.5 x 11 layout with a white background, then added a Christmas Junque Collage Frame as the base.

On the Merry Christmas art I put one of the Christmas Junque Background with that delicious Quatrefoil pattern as a subtle piece on top of the frame.

Next I picked out one of the Christmas Word Art Brushes and stamped the center- I adore the different languages Rhonna put in there!

Once my word was chosen, I grabbed bits & pieces from different kits but a TON were from the Christmas Junque Pieces- there's so much to choose from!

And that's it! On this art, I did layer some words and some Number Junque brushes for some oomph. The more you add, the better it looks!

So hurry and grab your Free Gift and make your own custom Holiday Wall Art!

On The Fourth Day of Christmas

2011-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

One of my most favorite Rhonna Designs digital kits are the Christmas Junque Backgrounds

I especially love the design with the junquey banner going across the page. This paper inspired me to do a similar banner for my piano

I just layered book pages, some Christmas Junque Background paper, some printed out Christmas music, and random bits of stuff I've been stashing. There's kraft snowflakes, some glittery poinsettias and leaves, scalloped punched kraft paper & gold glitter paper and even some tickets that I stamped with some Christmas Art Brushes

Foto Friday: Week 15

2011-12-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

We Watsons are on a new eating kick-eggs. Which is good because soon the chickens will be laying and we'll have eggs coming out of our ears. I've seen all kinds of egg variations and this one is so original and oh-so-delicious: Scrambled eggs with pepperoni, broccoli, potatoes, italian sausage, bell peppers, and cheddar. Mmmmmmmmm

Do you want to check out the other Foto Friday girls' tasty morsels? Me too.

On The Third Day of Christmas

2011-12-16T05:31:00.000-08:00

My true love gave to me ........

I saw these adorable ornaments on Miss Mustard Seed a few weeks ago and knew that they would be perfect for my tree

Source: missmustardseed.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

They are little mini Chalkboard ornaments with glittered edges! How perfect, right? So, I moseyed on over to Michaels and grabbed some cute little wooden plaques for only $0.59 a piece!

I had this fabulous Vintage Gold Paint from Martha Stewart I bought at Home Depot {I think it was around $7} and at Michaels I grabbed some matching glitter {hers is hands down the best glitter on the market} and headed home with my treasures.

I had some extra Chalkboard paint on hand, but if you want to order some great stuff, you can order Annie Sloan's chalkpaint from 'Round the Coop in Graphite . With 3 coats, it acts like a chalkboard!

Source: roundthecoop.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

The best thing about these is that they are the EASIEST and FASTEST. You simply:

1// Spray or brush on the chalkboard paint on the front of the ornament.

2// Once the chalkboard paint is dry, take a small brush and apply the gold paint on the edges of the plaque {don't worry your little head about it being perfect}.

3// After your first coat of paint is dry apply another thin coat of gold paint and shake glitter on while still wet.

4// Once the glitter/paint is dry, just staple some twine or ribbon to the back of the ornament- then you can either leave the chalkboard blank or write whatever you want on the front!

I made one for each of my kids and wrote their names in chalk. I thought it needed to stand out a little more so I went over my chalk outline with white paint. I really really love them- I want to make some for Braden & I as well!

On the Second Day of Christmas

2011-12-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

My true love gave to me ......

As most of you know I am a Master Procrastinator- so I have yet to snap any of my own family's Christmas photos. Finally, I whipped out my camera and took a couple shot of just the twinners in hopes I can possibly get some decent pictures of my kids if separated- together is just mass chaos.

Designed using vintage Rhonna Farrer Vintage Photo Frames // Rhonna Designs Christmas Junque Collage Borders// Rhonna Designs Christmas Art Brushes

Also, my brother & sister in law and my very first niece came home for the holidays! She is the stinkin sweetest little thing, I just love her to bits.

Designed using Rhonna Designs Simple Photo Edges Kit

The kids all got Christmas jammies from Grandma & I took my parents Christmas card photo with all their grandkids. I won't show the card until my mom gets hers mailed out {I used Rhonna Designs Evergreen Card Kit and ordered from Persnickety Prints} but I WILL show you my favorite goofy picture

As you can see Poppa was THRILLED to be sitting with 8 kids trying to get a decent picture taken.

On the First Day of Christmas

2011-12-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

My True Love gave to me.....

Last year on the day after Christmas, I cleaned out Target of their most fabulous shatterproof ornaments and I've hoarded them to make the girls' fanciest holiday headbands of all. Olivia wore hers yesterday at her kindy Winter Wonderland party.

It was also pajama day at school so I had my mom whip up some Christmasy jammie pants and a quick and easy little scarf for her to wear. Don't you just love Grandmas?

I just wrapped a plain white plastic headband with red satin fabric strips, then used this ruffled flower tutorial from Sew Mama Sew to make the red, green, and white lace flowers. Then I topped the whole thing off with a big fat, glittery Santa ornament hot glued to the center. It's a little loud and obnoxious, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Team Tuesday: 12 days of Christmas Framed Art

2011-12-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

In preparation of the 12 days of Christmas I'm starting on the blog tomorrow, I designed a little printable art that I am displaying in my bookshelf.

Designed with Rhonna Designs Christmas Art Brushes, Collage Junque Frames, and Number Junque Kit

All you need to make your own is the ever-so-versatile Number Junque Kit and you can choose any background or paper to print it on! I used some House of 3 Fall Junque Notebook paper, but you can find something similar at Fuzzimo or just print on actual notebook paper to get the same look!

Visit the Rhonna Designs Blog to see what the other Design Team Members have come up with this week!

It's coming......

2011-12-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Design elements by Rhonna Designs // Christmas Junque Card Kit // Christmas Junque Collage Borders // Chevron Funk Brushes // Christmas aRt Brush Kit // Number Junque Kit // Christmas Junque Pieces

Fonts// Letter Gothic // Pistili Roman // Rhonna Designs Swell

Foto Friday: Week 14

2011-12-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

This challenge was kind of hard for me. I mean, I love sooooo many things. My family, food {specifically pie}, music, dancing, Christmas..... the list goes on and on. How do you choose just ONE? And how to capture that one thing ever so perfectly? So I decided to stick with the Sound of Music on this one and go with the small things that make me smile. I mean, who doesn't love Girls in White Dresses with Blue Satin Sashes and Snowflake that Stay on My Nose and Eyelashes?

Designed using Rhonna Designs Christmas Junque Collage Borders

Let's see what the other girls of Foto Friday love:

My Favorite Christmasy Ideas

2011-12-05T09:43:00.001-08:00

Source: countryliving.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: thehouseofsmiths.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: thefancyfarmgirl.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: azcentral.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: debeecampos.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: thecreativemama.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: creativechaos.typepad.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: thenester.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: missmustardseed.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: hostessblog.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: hwtm.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: frenchlarkspur.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: theglitterguide.tumblr.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: elledecor.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Oh I could go on for days. See more of my Christmas pins on my Holly Jolly Christmas Board!

Foto Friday: Week 13

2011-12-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

I Love Lens Flare. Never been all that terrific at it, but I do love it so. Observe:

I wish I could say this is the real thing, alas it was a dark and stormy day yesterday and I had to make due with an action. I still like it though, and how about that Rosemary Christmas Tree? Darling.

Let us see how the other ladies of Foto Friday interpreted this week's challenge:

Our Christmas Tree

2011-12-01T13:47:00.001-08:00

Exciting news over at hello there! house- we have begun our Christmas Tree Tours! We started with me, so head on over there to see how my tree is shaping up this year:

Washi Tape Kit & Christmas Art Brushes from my favorite Elf

Cyber Monday Madness

2011-11-28T07:25:00.001-08:00

How was everyone's weekend? Mine. Was. Fabulous.

I cooked and cooked and we ate and ate. And ate. My Thanksgiving meal was a hit {yes, I actually prepared everything on the menu and we have leftovers for 3 weeks.} and then I had a fun Black Friday morning running around San Tan Mall with my mom, grandma, and littlest sister Barrett. I didn't go out searching for anything crazy, but I DID grab a gift for my sister Eryn and snagged this darling scarf for myself at a great deal {Penelope wanted to model}.

The rest of the weekend was spent as The Christmas Fairy sprinkling cheer and holiday decorations all over my house. It was THE BEST! Braden had to go out of town unexpectedly, so I stayed up super late making up a ton of Christmas stuff! I'll show it off here tomorrow for Team Tuesday, and there will be a sneaky peek of it on the hello there! house blog later today for My House Monday feature, The Watson Abode.

Now onto the Cyber Monday Madness! Rhonna Designs is having a fantastic sale, 40% off of a $20 purchase with the coupon code RDcyber11. Look at all the fabulous new fonts & kits that came out today:

$2.99

$2.99

$2.99

$2.99

Rhonna Designs Dingbat Font

$2.99

Sol Man Font

$2.99

Swell Font

$2.99

Christmas Junque Card Kit

$15

Junque Labels Kit

Punk Junque Kit

Isn't all this new stuff too fabulous? I am obsessed with the Punk Junque. And the fonts? The Christmas dingbats are going to be so awesome to uses for gifty tags.

Now, also for this Cyber Monday fest we are having, I must shoo you all over to the hello there! house blog this morning for our Handmade Holiday Gift Guide that the fabulous Lindsee put together for us! There is something for everyone on your list there!

Foto Friday: Week 12

2011-11-25T06:23:00.001-08:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.........

Christmas starts today! So the Thanksgiving decorations are getting packed up, and the Christmas decorations are going up!

Christmas Junque Frame by Rhonna Designs

This week I'm linking up to Kristyn! Check out her holiday fun stuff!

Thanksgiving Madness

2011-11-23T12:14:00.001-08:00

Ok, I've left you all hanging this week. It was the Fall Festival in Olivia's class today and I was on the Party Planning Committee. It was a crazy busy blur, and the longest 4 hours of my life this morning carting supplies, running and buying last minute materials and blowing up giant brown balloons, and stuffing paper turkeys but now it's over and it was glorious. Here is what we did.

All these activities can be found on my Fall Festival Pinboard or my Giving Thanks Pinboard

No I must go grocery shopping for Thanksgiving because all I've purchased for the meal is cranberries and bourbon. We're gonna need more than that for 25 people.

Thanksgiving Menu 2011

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Holy guacamole, Thanksgiving is on THURSDAY people. How in the hell did that happen? Wasn't it JUST Halloween? Cripes, this month has flown by. And as far as I'm concerned, Christmas starts on Friday so I have a lot of Thanksgiving ground to cover before it's Yuletide-palooza up in this house. Let us begin with our menu for our first hosted Thanksgiving holiday:

cutlery images via The Graphics Fairy/ burlap background via Fuzzimo

I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes this week for the best Thanksgiving meal of all time!

Foto Friday: Week 11

2011-11-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

Holidays are always a nostalgic time for me. Every year, we bring back the same traditions we had as children. We eat the same food, listen to the same music, fill the air with the same smells as we always have at the end of November and this year will be no exception. Now, don't get me wrong- I love putting "new spins" on old classics and I am always up for starting new traditions. However, I can never escape the things that bring me back to the days of magic and whimsy when you are a child and the holidays fill you with overwhelming happiness.

This week I am linking it up to Hilary~ check out the gorgeousness!

Goals For This Holiday Season

2011-11-16T06:38:00.000-08:00

I swear every dang year the holidays just breeze right by me and I feel like I was so busy just trying to make it through, that I forget to enjoy the little moments. I am so tired of being so tired during the holidays. I should be happy and festive and fun, but I never fail to wake up one morning and it is January 2nd. Sigh. How can I fix this? Any suggestions?

I see a lot of other amazing, fabulous bloggers doing wonderful, fun filled things through the holidays and I admit I get pea green with envy. So, instead of turning a bright shade of chartreuse I guess I better jump on the bandwagons!

First up is Lady Rhonna and her fabulous 21 day Challenges. I did one of these bad boys the second time she set one up and it was awesome. I can't even remember what my habit was that I did, but this time around I am committing to devoting more time to my children. I get way too busy with all the "work" that needs to be done, that most days I don't single out my kids for attention. For the next 21 days, I am going to make a habit of spending more devoted time with my kids. Not while emailing or pinning, or blogging, or texting; just focused on them. While I do love me some multi-tasking, I do need to learn when to be totally present. It's going to be hard, but it will make such a difference, I can already tell. We read a Dr. Suess classic, The Sneetches last night and the kids couldn't get enough.

Next is this December Daily business I just discovered on Team Tuesday! Jaime has a fantastic journal already set up, and today I will be working on my DD journal to get all ready for Christmas. I really want to keep up with this, it's SUCH a great idea.

Source: rhonnadesigns.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

What does everyone else have up their sleeves to make this holiday the best one yet? Any new traditions you are starting?

Team Tuesday: Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

2011-11-15T16:58:00.001-08:00

Every year for Thansgiving we pile 5 cranky kids in our car and bounce around to 3 different families houses, only to be overstuffed and overspent. This year we said, NO MORE!, ya'll have to come to US. We will be hosting a lovely Thanksgiving Soiree filled with lots of laid back, holiday delciousness. Feast your eyes on our invites, courtesy of Rhonna Designs Grateful Glam Kits and The Graphics Fairy.

I found this printable invitation on Pinterest and used the Grateful Glam Backgrounds to make it my own. I also used The Graphics Fairy Turkey and Cutlery images, as well as the House of 3 Magical Brush set for the banner.

Source: loveobsessinspire.typepad.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: i-do-it-yourself.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: graphicsfairy.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Visit Rhonna's blog to see the AMAZING things the other ladies of Team Tuesday came up with! There is a Grateful Glam Wreath that I am completely coveting right now.

Foto Friday: Week 10

2011-11-12T09:25:00.001-08:00

I had a bit of a internet mess at my house over the weekend, which prevented me from posting this in a timely manner, but it's back! And here's my Foto Friday entry from week 10:

It was my scene at 11:11 am on 11-11-11. Babies in the bathtub. Can't get much better than that :)

Team Tuesday: Garden Art

2011-11-08T10:48:00.000-08:00

I've finally started my garden here at home, and I couldn't resist adding a little bit of pretty to all my potted herbs. It just adds some flair to the typical everyday plant.

For these fun little garden flags that I've used to label my herb pots I used the Grateful Glam Background Kit and the Honeycomb Background Kit.

I printed a bunch of backgrounds out on cardstock with the herb names in Campbell Font. Then I ran it through my mom's laminating machine she bought like 10 years ago, and glued them to some skewers to mark off the plants. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

Don't you just love how all the Rhonna Designs Kits work together so well? I'm working on my Thanksgiving decorations this week so I'll some more fun Grateful Glam to share!

Grateful Glam Paper Kit

$10

Honeycomb Background Kit

Check out more Team Tuesday Entries on the Rhonna Designs Blog!

Kenzlee & Logan Bride & Groom Photos

2011-11-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

I LOVE when my clients decide to do Bride & Groom photos before the wedding. It makes the wedding day so much less stressful to have those photos done ahead of time, and it makes the slideshow at the reception so amazing to have edited photos of the couple. I did Kenzlee and Logan's photos last night at the Mesa Temple and at the Orange Groves in North Mesa. These country loving, cowboy boot wearing sweethearts are getting married this Friday and could not be more excited.

Foto Friday: Week 9

2011-11-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

Back on the wagon with this week's Foto Friday! I'm posting this {from my iphone, which is totally new to me} on our first field trip with Olivia's kindy class.

Little things to me today were all the little bitties on their way to their very first field trip to the AZ Puppet Museum in Phoenix. Olivia and her field trip buddy, Kesa peeked over at me with their little eyes and immediately I snapped my entry photo for the day.

Follow the yellow brick road to Kristyn, this week's Foto Friday partner!

Thanksgiving Pinspiration

2011-11-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Of course, yesterday being November 1st, all my Halloween decorations got torn down and now my house is naked waiting for the Thankgiving festivity to begin. I did a lot of crafting today, photos to come, but I thought I should share some of my favorite ideas I've hoarded on Pinterest to prepare for the next holiday!

Source: simplygrove.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: brunchatsaks.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: itswrittenonthewalls.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: s220.photobucket.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: jennycookies.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: ramblingrenovators.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: jillianharris.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: azcentral.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: notsohumblepie.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: tasteofhome.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Team Tuesday: New Holiday Kits at Rhonna Designs!

2011-11-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

Today is a great day friends, because Rhonna just released some new holiday kits last night! I can't wait to sit down this afternoon and play with them all!

Chevron Funk Brush Kit

Christmas Word Art Brush Kit

Christmas Brush Pack

Christmas Junque Background

$10

Christmas Junque Pieces

I'm sure you all could already tell, but the Junque Lines are my absolute FAVORITE. If you haven't already signed up for Rhonna Design's Newsletter you better go to the website now and sign up- Rhonna is giving away an awesome discount code for all her newsletter subscribers! Hop on over to the Rhonna Designs blog to see what all the other girls of Team Tuesday have in store for you!

Happy Haunting Day 10: All Hallows Eve

2011-10-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have been asking if I'm still alive since it has been an entire week since I posted last. Tis true that I completely fell off the radar last week. Holidays with 5 kids turns out to be incredibly busy and I literally went into zombie mode running and volunteering and making preschool party treats and teacher gifts and party invitations and preparing for our Pumpkin carving party and creating, bulding, & painting carnival games for a friend's Fall Festival and coaching cheer for their final football game and this week is competition so we've had extra practices, and....... well, you get the picture. I was so busy literally running around last week I literally ran out of time to do any blogging. That includes my Foto Friday entry, so sorry ladies for dropping the ball last week. I need to try and prep my Foto Fridays a week in advance or something to make absolutely certain I don't miss again. I think I'm going to put in a request to add 5 extra hours to each day so I can try and fit everything in. I didn't even get to finish my girls Halloween dresses I've half sewn them :( Oh well, there's always next year I suppose.

And of course the minute I whipped out my camera to take pictures of all the kids in their costumes {the girls were all Pocahontas/indian girls and Landen was Lightning McQueen} my camera battery died : / So we used a friend's camera to document but I don't have any photos to share of the kids tonight. I did however did snag a couple of photos of my Dia De Los Muertos Makeup I mentioned a couple weeks ago.

I hope you all had a delightful Halloween. Now onto Thanksgiving fun!

Happy Haunting Day Nine: Our Second Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

2011-10-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

It's done! My invitation for our 2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving Party is finished {yes, one week before the event. What?} and the FB page is created and the neighborhood invitations have been passed out. I pinned this invitation on my All Hallows Eve Board a while ago and I made my invitation with the same background design

"Pointer" Element used from House of 3, Fonts: Campbell, Modern No. 20, Odalisque, Bellerose,

& Berthold Walbaum Book Italic

I printed them out small and tied the invitation "tags" to mini little pumpkins I sprayed white and glittered. I also couldn't resist adding a little Spooky Junque flair to them for our neighborhood invitations.

Foto Friday: Week 7 & A Happy Haunting Mash Up

2011-10-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

This week's Foto Friday Theme turned out to be a PERFECT one for my Happy Haunting Series!

We took our kids & our bestest friends' kids to the Pumpkin Patch at Mother Nature's Farm here in Mesa, and they had the best time picking out & decorating pumpkins, riding on the mini tractor, feeding the animals, and of course taking pictures. They are all the biggest hams.

The wonderful & versatile frames used are Rhonna Designs Simple Photo Edges 2, of course

Now mosey on over to Hilary's blog to see what the other girls of Foto Friday have in store for you today!

Happy Haunting Day 7: My Halloween Costume

2011-10-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

This year I decided I WAS going to dress up, but I wanted to keep it simple. I scoured my beloved Pinterest and found THE most gorgeous Dia De Los Muertos photos and I knew I found my costume.

Source: google.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: None via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: host.pappapak8.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: bing.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: herebewitches.tumblr.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

That last vintage photo is my absolute FAVORITE thing. So, I gathered up my ideas, and started designing my costume. I can't wait to share next week!

Happy Haunting Day 6: Banners & Lollies & Poms, Oh My!

2011-10-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

It seems I keep coming back to my stand-by paper crafting decorations- banners, flags, lollies, and tissue paper poms.

All of these things are all easy to make, they are cheap, they are versatile, and they add so much festivity to your space. For me, more is more so I've slathered every inch of my living room with these paper crafts and they make the whole space sing with Halloween happiness. Change up the sizes, the colors, the materials; and you have a whole new look for each holiday! Let's go on a little tour, shall we?

The very first thing that greets people when they come in my door is my two black hanging pom poms, some Spooky Junque Banners, & some handcut glittered bat banners. I just found a bat template on Pinterest, traced & cut them out of cereal boxes, spray painted them black, then glittered them with Martha Stewart black glitter. Hot glue them on some Black Divine Twine and you have a lovely little batty banner.

I have three jars with various flags in them surrounded by pumpkins on my computer desk right when you walk in my door

Here is my giant metal board above my little white couch in my living room. Notice the tissue & newspaper pom pom "flowers" at the top. The "All Hallows Eve" Banner I made two years ago (I think) and the burlap candy corn painted banner was made last year. The candy corn rosette magnets were just made by hot gluing some yellow & orange crepe streamers around a doily, gluing some Spooky Junque accents on the front, then I glued the whole thing to some old alphabet magnets I had hanging around on my fridge.

And here is the chalk board right next to the metal board.

My black console filled with craft supplies sits underneath the Printable Art I shared yesterday

On my console in my living room are wine glasses filled with moss & mini skulls for Witches Brew

These skulls on a cake plate sit right next to the witches brew glasses

Newspaper & book page lollies with some Spooky Junque accents

These candy filled apothecary jars sit on my piano, tagged with some Quatrefoil Background & Spooky Junque Border tags

Outside my door I have a pumpkin sitting in a hanging planter with some festive little flags poking out

In front of our bay window I stuck a chair I repainted and reupholstered and filled it with pumpkins, a chalk painted pot, and some more lollies & flags

And I even laminated some Spooky Junque Banners to hang outside, so they are protected from the minuscule chance of rain we may have here in AZ.

So there's the front part of my house. There's so much more to share in the kitchen area, so I'll show & tell next week!

Happy Haunting Day 5: Team Tuesday Printable Wall Art

2011-10-18T06:14:00.000-07:00

Today's Happy Haunting is doubling as a Rhonna Designs Team Tuesday!

If you have not signed up to get the Rhonna Design's Newsletter yet, you need to stop whatever you are doing and SIGN UP NOW! You get all kinds of sweet freebies, coupon codes, and are always the first to know when new kits are released!

A few weeks ago, Rhonna gave away this fabulous Let Them Eat Candy Printable Art in her newsletter:

I loved it so much I printed it out, popped it into a frame, and hung it on my wall immediately. The more I looked at it, the more I loved it and wanted more framed art to hang on my walls. So I opened up Photoshop and got to work.

I made two more signs to go with my Candy Printable: Toil & Trouble and Boil & Bubble.

I used Carnival Freakshow font in all different sizes (not the same font as the one above, but it's close) and I accented the wording with the Spooky Junque Borders and Spooky Junque Labels. Don't they look just fantastic on my wall?

My Hallows Tree Art is from a House of 3 Halloween Tree kit from last year. Alas, they are no longer available, but maybe Rhonna will remix them into new kits if we all beg hard enough ;)

If you are on a Mac & don't have Photoshop, you can always design these in Pages (or Word if you are on a Windows). They're nice & simple, but pack a lot of punch when hung in large groups.

Happy Haunting Day 4: Ghostly Glam Wreath

2011-10-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Our Happy Haunting Feature today is Ghostly Glam Wreath Tutorial!

I featured this wreath on Happy Haunting Day One Pinterest Inspiration

Source: daysofchalkandchocolate.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

And created my own Ghostly Glam wreath using my favorite paper crafts:

I had a TON of plumbing pipe "wreaths" made up from my Thanksgiving Hello! Holidays craft for hello there! house, so I created this easy peasy wreath using a homemade wreath form, some leftover white sheets I bought at Goodwill, and some Spooky Junque Designs.

1) Cut foam piping to size you want your wreath and duct tape your wreath into a circle.

2) Rip a piece of sheeting into strips and hot glue the end of one strip to the inside of the wreath form. Wrap strip around the wreath form to cover the entire wreath attaching ends with hot glue to wreath and adding more strips as you go.

3) Once the wreath is completely wrapped, cut and tie small strips randomly along wreath to look like "mummy wrap"

4) Print out Bat pattern, cut out and trace along a piece of chipboard (I used a cereal box). Paint bat black and glitter (I use Martha's)

5) I hung the bat on a giant doily from Hobby Lobby then glued one of the Spooky Junque Labels on it

6) I made kraft paper lollies from lunch bags, and glued on some Spooky Junque Brushes I punched out with my scalloped circle punch

7) Last I made some mini black tissue paper poms to look like flowers and hot glued those on there with some mini flags I made with the Spooky Junque Backgrounds & words from the Spooky Junque Candy Cone Kit. These kits are so awesome because there is so many little pieces you can mix & match on a variety of projects.

8) I hung the whole thing up using black Divine Twine and called it a day. Make one for yourself!

Happy Haunting Day 3: Pumpkin Whoopies & Caramel Corn

2011-10-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

For today's installment of Happy Haunting, I'm sharing the Pumpkin Whoopie Pie & Caramel Corn recipes I made to give out for Neighborhood Boos!

Designed using Rhonna Designs Simple Photo Edges 2 Kit & Traveling Typewriter font

I found this pumpkin whoopie recipe via Pinterest, but when I made my first batch, I wasn't thrilled with the result. The frosting was too sugary, and I felt the cookie/cake was too gingery and not enough like my favorite pumpkin pie. So I switched up a few things, and was completely happy with the result

The caramel corn recipe is one I've been hoarding for a couple of years now. I absolutely LOVE it- and I can't stop eating it, it's soooooo addicting.

Recipe cards designed using Rhonna Designs Spooky Junque Frames Kit. Fonts used are Traveling Typewriter, IFC Railroad, & Civilian

This is just the start of my Autumn treats I have swimming around in my head, I'll be sharing more fall recipes next week!

Happy Haunting: Day 2- Neighborhood Boos

2011-10-15T05:34:00.000-07:00

Are we ready to dive into Happy Haunting this lovely Saturday morning?

Designed using Rhonna Designs Spooky Junque Borders , Spooky Junque Frames Kit, and Spooky Junque Brushes. Fonts used: Tall Films & Carnival Freakshow

We started this tradition last year in our neighborhood after I read this post from Rhonna last Halloween. I thought it was the sweetest way you can spread some spooky holiday cheer to your neighbors, and it is THE MOST fun with your kids. We drug along all 5 of ours last night, left the candy on people's doorstep, rang the doorbell, and ran and hid to watch them get the candy! It's really the best tradition- start yours this weekend! Your neighbors will love it I promise.

Designed using Rhonna Designs Spooky Junque Frames Kit, and House of 3 Wicked Font set. Fonts used: Rosewood & Modern No. 20

With the Poem, we also handed out mini little signs that our neighbors can put in their windows to show that they've already been Booed!

Designed using Rhonna Designs Spooky Junque Frames Kit. Fonts used: Rosewood & Carnival Freakshow

Designed using Rhonna Designs Spooky Junque Label Kit & Simple Photo Edges 2.

The treats we gave out were just the Spooky Junque Candy Cones filled with some Caramel Corn & treat boxes filled with Pumpkin Whoopie Pies! I'll be sharing those recipes tomorrow on Happy Haunting Day3!

Foto Friday: Week 6

2011-10-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Wahoo! I've been so excited for this week's Foto Friday because for once in my life, I am actually prepared!

I decided to pick Penelope to photograph today because she is the DRAMA QUEEN of the house. One minute she's super happy and clapping her hands and jumping up & down, then the next mili-second she's super droopy sad crying depressed to the max. And she can turn it on and off like a switch, let me tell you. I'm going to have to keep my eye on her. She can get what she wants out of people by using this little skill too- I've seen many a sucker {my dad} go pick her up and give her a lollie to cheer up Poor Precious Peeper Girl. These photos were taken within seconds of each other.

My link this week goes to Christine, check her out and see what the other girls of Foto Friday have in store this week!

Happy Haunting: Day 1- Pinterest Inspiration

2011-10-13T06:32:00.000-07:00

Now that my life is back on schedule, it's time for some Halloween Happiness- Rosemary Watson style!

Welcome to our first Happy Haunting Day! It's been Halloweenie around my house for about a month now, but I'm adding more and more everyday. I thought before we delved into what I've done here at my house for Halloween, I'd highlight some of my favorite ideas from Pinterest that have inspired my Halloween decor & crafts this year. There are tons more Pins on my All Hallows Eve board, as well as the Halloween Inspiration Board I co-curate with the lovely ladies of Fancy House Road. Which ones are your favorites?

Source: daysofchalkandchocolate.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: hwtm.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: acottageindustry.typepad.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: azcentral.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: None via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: everydayisaholiday.bigcartel.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: rhonnadesigns.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: countryliving.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: hostessblog.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: carinagardner.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: madiganmade.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: suaviloquy.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: belindasgreatideas.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Source: suaviloquy.blogspot.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

Where oh where can Rosemary be?

2011-10-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Friends, I have been GETTING CRAP DONE. For the past few weeks I have been going full speed ahead on hello there! house; and now that it is over- I'm trying to assemble my life back to a more organized schedule.

This week has been bananas due to an overload of inspiration at HTH- I've cleaned, purged, planned, planted, crafted, cooked, sweat, put away, and organized every single day; and I just can't stop. Seriously, HTH did exactly what it was meant to do: encourage and inspire people to make their abodes a little bit better and a lot more them. It certainly has made a huge impact on me and my life, and what really brings tears to my eyes is all the wonderful comments I've received from others telling me it is the same for them.

People are thinking about what furniture they want to put in their backyard so they can have Thanksgiving dinner in their Outdoor Space this year. People are purging their closets of "Torture Chamber" clothes that only exist to depress, not to be worn. People are spending way too much time in the garden section of Walmart, and some people are picking out new paint colors (that are FINALLY not beige) for their bathroom painting project this week. What makes me the most happy is that people are telling me that they had a wonderful time last weekend just hanging out with people just like them and they felt connected and a part of something that they never knew could happen here in AZ. And really, that's what it's all about.

While this is hopefully going to grow into a thriving business, the end goal for hello there! house is not money. Money is just a tool to get to our goal. My goal, my mission, my purpose for putting so much time and effort into hello there! house is to convince everyone that they can live in a beautiful home. It is not about being rich or having a house in a magazine. It is about thinking outside of the box to create a living space that perfectly fits your life. That enhances your life. While you may not end up with a "picture perfect" home, you CAN end up with a home that functions better, that is "greener", that has more of your personality, and that makes you happy. Because you deserve it.

So, I'd just like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart one more time for all the people who were involved in this little project of mine. I am proud to say that I worked harder on this event than anything else in my whole life. I am lucky enough to see an idea I had come to fruition and impact my life and other people's lives. Not a lot of people get to say that and I feel truly blessed that I was given this opportunity. It took a lot of teamwork from a TON of people and I truly couldn't have done it without you all. My appreciation for you is more than you know.

Now it's on to celebrating the upcoming Holidays, revamping the multiple blogs & websites I "manage" for the upcoming New Year, and to planning for the next chapter of hello there! house. We'll be starting Monthly Classes in January {the first being a Hello! Holidays: Valentines class with EXTREMELY limited availability since it's in my cozy little house}, having a HTH New Years Potluck the first weekend of 2012, and we have our second Event to plan for next April so I'll be as busy as ever. Plus I have cheer to coach, dances to choreograph, weddings to photograph, my own house to work on, and some children to raise so there's that.

Break time is over- and back to work. See you tomorrow for some Halloween fun!

Team Tuesday: Harvest Wreath made at hello there! house

2011-10-11T01:27:00.000-07:00

Now that hello there! house has finally finished up it's first event, I can share this fun project I've been hoarding using Rhonna Designs Grateful Glam Flags & Tags Kit!

This Harvest Wreath was made with the budget crafter in mind. I came across this little gem on Pinterest:

Source: thepennyparlor.com via Rosemary on Pinterest

That sent me on over to Home Depot to clean out their plumbing foam piping to cut in half, tape, and VOILA! you have 2 foam wreaths for $0.97!

I wanted a more simple and streamlined wreath, so I simply cut strips of burlap about 3" wide and wrapped them around the wreath, hot gluing as I wrapped underneath to secure. I bought the burlap at Joanne's last November- one whole bolt of 10 yards for $25. I have finally gone through it all and went to get another bolt, but they didn't have them anymore. I'm hoping they get the bolts back in stock for Thanksgiving- until then, their burlap that you cut off the bolt is $3.99/yard but you can usually use a 40% coupon {get the Joanne's app for your phone- never have to carry in coupons again!} and get a lot for a great deal. You would only need about a half yard for one wreath, however this is our Hello! Holidays: Thanksgiving project for hello there! house, so I made up 50 kits.

I then grabbed a white bedsheet I got at Goodwill for $1, and ripped 3 strips across the width of the fabric to hot glue into rosettes. The technique for the rosettes is the same as I shared on Jaimee's blog last year, but you hot glue the rosette onto felt as you go along {shown on Rhonna Farrer's video tutorial here}

I wanted to another simple detail to the wreath, so I printed off a page from Rhonna Designs Grateful Glam Flags & Tags kit, cut out the mini buntings and hot glued them to a piece of brown Divine Twine, then cut out a banner element and hot glued it onto my rosettes.

To finish it all off I cut a piece of 1.5" satin ribbon I bought at SAS fabric in Tempe {$5 for a bolt of 50 yards} and there you have it. An extremely inexpensive, utterly lovely Harvest wreath that can be used all throughout Autumn. Add some white pumpkins to your doorstep, and you have a chic doorscape (did I just invent that word?) to welcome your guests.

Visit Rhonna's Blog to see everyone else's Team Tuesday entries!

Foto Friday: Week 5

2011-10-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

hello there! house is finally here, so I'm going to make this post short & sweet:

Now jump on over to Meg's blog!

Foto Friday Week 4

2011-09-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

Between being sick and getting ready for hello there! house next week, I've been non-existent here! I promise to get back in the groove, I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and burn through my to do lists!

So, without further ado- this week's Foto Friday is......

One of my new favorite places is The Coffee Shop at Agritopia. It is a lovely little cafe surrounded by beauty and it makes THE. BEST. pastries and coffee. If you are ever in Gilbert and need a place with some charm and happiness, The Coffee Shop is where it's at.

And here is the link to Krystin's blog where she is sharing one of her favorite places!

Foto Friday: Week 3

2011-09-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

Here at the Watson house when one person gets sick, EVERYONE gets sick, so I caught a flu-like bug, then Landen got sick, then Georgia, now Braden. So I did not get around to my photo assignment this week :(

BUT here is my link to Hilary! Follow all the links to see everyone else's entries for today- and I promise to make mine up next week!

Please Oh Please Join Us for hello there! house

2011-09-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

We are only 14 days away from the big event, and we are working like busy little bees getting everything prepared to make it the best thing ever. We'd like to fill up the event to max capacity, so we're giving away a smoking deal of a two day event pass for only $100! You can't get a better deal than that! Visit the hello there! house blog for more info for what we have in store for you for the weekend, and register for the event at the hello there! house eventbrite page. We'll see you October 7th & 8th!

Team Tuesday: Busy Bee To Do Lists

2011-09-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday! Here's this week's Rendition of Rhonna Design's Team Tuesday:

I was in desperate need of some new to do lists, and the Honeycomb kits were the perfect solution! I used both the Background kit & the Pieces kit, plus a little bit of the 6 week shape up brush kit to had some pizzaz.

Honeycomb Pieces Kit

Honeycomb Backgrounds Kit

Now visit Rhonna's blog to see the other entries this week!

Shotgun Wedding {At The Temple}

2011-09-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

I mean, the images really speak for themselves. Andy & Jenny are basically head-over-heels in love and just couldn't be happier about being husband and wife (and they planned their wedding in about 2 weeks!) How cute are they?

Foto Friday: Week 2

2011-09-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Today's Foto Friday theme is..............Retro?

{designed using Halo Handletter & Modern No. 20 fonts, and Quatrefoil Backgrounds by Rhonna Designs}

I'm pretty sure all of us drew a bit of a blank when this challenge came up? What the heck is Retro? What does it all mean? Why am I so hungry?

Anywhoo, so I went to the coveted Pinterest to try and find some Retro inspiration and this is what I came up with:

Source: google.com via Lily on Pinterest

Source: lookingpro.xanga.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: thatkindofwoman.tumblr.com via Kung on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Jenily on Pinterest

Source: acresofdiamonds.tumblr.com via Anna on Pinterest

Source: karamayphotography.com via Rilee on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Brittany on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via Linda on Pinterest

So after seeing these images this is my entry for today:

Hop on over to Kristyn's blog to see what she came up with for Retro today!

Our very last hello there! house Meet 'N' Greet

2011-09-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

It's almost time for our FINAL Meet 'N' Greet at Joe's Farm Grill!!

I've been packaging up all the project boxes & swag bags, printing up all the handout for the classes, and preparing all the contributors for the Joe's Farm Grill Meet 'N' Greet.

Don't you want to come and make home decor magic with me? We'll be raffling off a FREE hello there! house home & garden event pass at the Meet 'N' Greet AND giving out $50 off coupon codes just for our Meet 'N' Greet guests! Get your tickets at http://joesfarmgrillmeetngreet.eventbrite.com/ to join in the fun!

Also..........our Early Bird Pricing ends Saturday so hurry over to our hello there! house EventBrite Page to get your two full day Event Passes for only $150!

Some photos of the family

2011-09-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

It's nearly impossible to get everyone in my family photographed at the same time. This weekend we were able to snag some cute shots of Olivia, Braden, Landen, and even I.

Maybe this weekend we can get some of Penelope, Evelyn, & Georgia ;)

Team Tuesday: Spooky Junque Delight

2011-09-13T06:11:00.000-07:00

Can I tell you that when Rhonna hinted on her blog that the Halloween kits would be hitting the stores this past weekend, I was on my iphone like white on rice checking to see if they had gone live yet. THE VERY MINUTE she emailed us for the "gone live" go ahead, I downloaded them and got to work.

First off, do you all know that I am obsessed with holiday decorating? Like, it absolutely oozes from every nook & cranny in my home. And each year, Halloween stuff starts popping up a little sooner than the last year. So yes, on the 10th of September, it started to turn into The Watson's Halloween Home.

I first whipped up theses {To. Die. For.} candy cones. I mean, these are the stinkin cutest things, and they are so incredibly easy. Absolutely anyone can create these, they come all packaged up nice & neat for you in one kit, all you need to do is print & cut. I added a ruffled crepe streamer trim at the top, but everything else was included on one page of the candy cones. And there's two more styles!

Spooky Junque Candy Cone Kit $5

Next, I wanted to take {Scary Photos} of all my kids and put them around my house for Halloween, so yesterday was Olivia's day. Here are some {witchy} photos accented by some more of the Spooky Junque Kits:

And these are the kits I used:

Spooky Junque Border Kit $5

Spooky Junque Label Kit $6

Spooky Junque Frame Kit $5

Seriously, you need some Spooky Junque in your life. And it's so so fab that these designs are out so early so you can slowly but surely start decorating for All Hallows Eve instead of freaking out the week of Halloween and getting only half the stuff up that you wanted and only having it up for 5 days, and cursing yourself for procrastinating. Not that I would know anything about that or anything.

Now run on over to Rhonna's Blog to see what the rest of the team has come up with for Team Tuesday!