{wild berry jam}

There is nothing like the sweet taste of homemade jam...

...{wild berry jam} is a homemade favorite of mine. Every year as I gather the goods to make this treat I remember my Granny canning in her kitchen. Everything from beans to jellies, preserves to sauces. It was a year long process for her. There was always something ready to be harvested and made ready for the cellar.


It is with her in mind that I recreate those moments in the kitchen and spread the feeling of homemade cheer.

To decorate the jars this year I collected these simple items found around the house:

{kitchen twine}

{brown coffee filters}

{muslin scraps}

{brown kraft cardstock tag}

 ...measure and cut a piece of {kitchen twine} and tie around the lid of your jar...

 ...punch a hole in your {tag} and feed twine through. Tie a bow.

 ...add a scrap of {muslin} and tie and trim ends...

 ...cut the scalloped top off of a {coffee filter} and twist into a flower...

 ...glue flower to center of tag and bow...

 I love the {vintage sweetness} of these jars.

 These make the best teacher and co-worker gifts!

 This year I had teachers asking about the {jam} - hoping I was making it again this year.

 A Christmas morning favorite of ours? {toasted english muffins with wild berry jam}

Merry Merry Christmas to you all!

I will be linking this up to Freckled Laundry - Air Your Laundry !

Super Sweet Organizer - on the Cheap!

I am a lover of containers of any kind...and an even bigger fan of organization. I recently stumbled across this "file" box at a local outlet store. It was a pretty enough blue color, not exactly what I wanted, but since it was only $7.00 I grabbed it up anyway. I loved the staggered tiers for files, papers, notes. AND it had one drawer as well. A keeper.

...I found some paint in the garage....a shade of white...and I started painting. The first coat showed thick brush strokes, so after it dried I added a second coat that I applied with a soft cloth, rubbing it on in a smoother coat. Once the second coat dried, I used coarse sand paper and heavily distressed the edges and the drawer pull. Once I was happy with the level of distressing I took a finer sanding block and rubbed over the entire box to smooth things out. A final coat of minwax, in clear and it was finished. I LOVE IT.

It will be the perfect addition to the art studio....

I will be linking this up this week to these wonderful and inspirational parties!

Please be sure to check out all of the other sweet surprises these parties have to offer!

Art Supplies Get a Pretty New Home

I love to create scrapbooks and mixed media journals and all sorts of artsy things, so my stash of supplies is, well, enormous. I have a slight sickness when it comes to organization and my things having a "home," so when the quantity of pretty glitter glues became overwhelming, a new container was needed for storing them. I use them alot, so I wanted them to be easily accessible, and of course, I wanted them to be in something "pretty!" ...in comes that wonderful man again...

A two by four and a drill and he was off to creating.

It was a little rough around the edges, but it was just what I wanted. It would fit perfectly on the art studio island!

I added some layers of paint and took the palm sander to it....then I hand sanded the edges of the holes where it was extra rough from the drill bit.....

 ...it looked so sweet loaded with those soft "sherbety" rainbow of colors!

 Did I mention he rocks?

I hope to link this to some of my favorite inspirational sites. Check out the BLOG PARTIES tab above to see even more awesome inspiration for yourself! 

 Did I mention he rocks?

I hope to link this to some of my favorite inspirational sites. Check out the BLOG PARTIES tab above to see even more awesome inspiration for yourself!