creativity abounds

I was grocery shopping on Friday night (I know, I know) when I went down the "office supply" aisle trying to find a mailing envelope for my sister's birthday present. On the way back up the aisle, after finding diddly squat, I glanced over at the school supplies and saw those little trays of water colors. Remember those? I loved mine so much I'd actually wait until the paint dried, then clean around the little wells to make sure it was all in order. And I never mixed colors. Actually, this is explaining so much right now....Anywho, I figured Britton would love it, and they are washable so what could it hurt?

Saturday afternoon, in that lull between naptime wake-up and dinner prep, I brought the paints out and showed her. She wanted them immediately. So I set her up with some construction paper and a ramekin of water and showed her how to dip the brush into the water, then into the paint, then on the paper. She completed three pictures this weekend!





And I tapped into my creativity too! I was browsing the latest Pottery Barn catalogue, as I absolutely love their Christmas decor, and saw this pillow.



For $39. For a pillow cover. The frugal side of me thought that was a wee bit too much for a pillow cover. And frankly, I don't care if someone wants to spend that on a pillow or a shirt or whatever. Heck, I've got Pottery Barn curtains hanging in the living room/dining room/conservatory/piano room that cost a boatload. But I know where to splurge and where to put on the brakes. So I stopped at JoAnn's Fabrics, got a pillow form and some red embroidery thread, pulled out some fabric scraps, then made this over the weekend:




Displayed right in front of the Santa lights we picked up at Lowes. I'm starting on another pillow next week!