Happy 3rd Blog Birthday!!

The idea came about, about six months prior to this, but my official, Day 1 on WordPress, first NDAD post ever, was three years ago today, on November 27, 2009.  Wowsa.

It's a little crazy hitting this fun birthday/milestone and what an amazing ride it has been!!

I just got this photo from my Aunt Patti who titled it "you were refashioning in the 80s" which is most definitely true.  With her shirt, it looks like I turned it into a dress by cinching the waist with a hot belt and added my sneaks.  I would totally wear those sneaks now if I had them in my size.

We've only just begun!!  Such fun and new things on the horizon...2013 is going to be a very good year :)

Goodwill Bamboo Tray

After a Halloween trip to Goodwill a few weeks ago where their "Halloween" rack was something that my "normal" rack would look like...

...I came across this..

A fab bamboo tray!!

I was totally inspired by this vintage tray and loved the inset designs on the bottom...

...that I decided to make something with a little more flair!!

I went to my tape stash and grabbed a roll of Scotch Blue Painters Tape and started crafting a little chevron design on the bottom of the tray.

I thought this would be an easy design to make, just because of the straight lines.  It was this or some stripes, so I went with this!!

With my tape in place, I picked my paint!  I thought a gold glitter would be perfect, and totally holiday-appropriate as well (I know I'll be toting treats to upcoming holiday parties).  Martha Stewart's Coarse Gold Glitter Paint was my choice...

...and I painted in-between all the lines!  To make the coloring a bit stronger, I gave the tray four coats to really get the glitter down.

Once I finished painting, I let the tray sit and dry overnight.

Once the paint was completely dry, it was time to get peeling!!  Kinda reminiscent of peeling dried glue from my hands in art class when I was a kid...

My new tray was looking a little something like this...

I'm already loving how it looks!!  And, it'll still be perfect whether it's carrying treat bags, or my dinner into my living room when I must watch/eat Revenge

An upcycled project using three main ingredients, I'm liking those numbers!!

I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing holiday weekend!!  Back to the grind we go :)

Turkey Day Ensemble!

I wanted to put together something slightly theme-y for the Thanksgiving holiday and when I was going through a bag of goodies I snagged at a swap party, the ideas started swirling!! I grabbed a fabulous Stella McCartney sweater at the swap and printed out a pattern of a turkey...

...to embroider!!

I pinned the pattern down...

...took a skein of Deborah Norville yarn that was multi-colored with a similar base shade to the sweater itself, because I didn't want to use traditional turkey colors - we're thinking more Anthropologie and less Crayola...

...and began a little hand embroidery action.  I used a larger needle and pretty much followed the outline of my cartoon-y turkey pal!

I totally stayed on the lines (yay!!) and when I was finished, I began to rip away the paper stencil.

The turkey wasn't the only thing 0n my DIY agenda for Thanksgiving...I had some of Martha Stewart's "Outrageous Chocolate Cookies" ready to make as well.  Oh and yeah, that's a bottle of tequila I used to mash up a gigantor bar of chocolate into little bits.  A margarita may or may not have been made to sip while in the kitchen, just sayin.

On top of my cookies, I also rocked out a baked brie appetizer with brown sugar and pecans.

I even played around with some puff pastry decorations!  A little flower/star/sun - whatever you think it looks like, that's totally what I was going for :)  In the oven like this...

Out of the oven like that...

I got to spend the holiday with some of my best friends and really enjoyed a feast of good food, but more importantly amazing company.  The flowers were also a DIY job by PS, who knocked it out of the park!!

My finished turkey...

RS's finished turkey...

The table was set...

...and the courses began!!

I even had my hand with the real turkey!!

I loved my subtle Thanksgiving homage sweater that came from goodies in my closet and craft stash!!

The word of our dinner was gratitude.  We all spoke of what we were grateful for which was and is ultimately the reason behind the holiday, but also a feeling that shouldn't just be expressed on this day, but each and every one.  I am grateful for so much and am lucky to have the love and support of you guys, here, each day.  So, many, many thanks are sent out over the interwebs to you...I am so very lucky.