Update Your Vintage Pieces

I don't know about you but my grandmother had an obscene amount of costume jewelry! When my Noni died she left all of her jewelry, real and fake, to me and my two sisters. Well... my older sister got the real stuff and we all got to split the fake stuff :) For years and years all of her jewelry has been sitting in my closet in an enormous jewelry box because... well.... I really don't have any need to wear huge brooches or jewel encrusted clip on earrings on a day to day bases... I used a few pieces for vocal competitions or pageants when I need something to look super sparkly from stage. I was so excited when brooches made their come back! I dragged out my huge jewelry box and got out all my brooches and then I started looking at everything else in the box. There was so much stuff that I would never wear as is but it seemed like such a shame to let everything just sit there! So I started giving all my vintage things a make over and I'm loving my new, unique pieces! So far I've used earrings to add bling to my daughter's headbands and clips, earrings and brooches for flower centers and necklaces... among other things. It's been quite a bit of fun trying new things with all my Noni's old things! I only wish I had thought of it before my wedding so I could have used some of her pieces instead of going and buying cheap accessories! :)

This isn't even half of everything!

Necklace made from an old chain of my Noni's plus her brooches and earrings

The center of the flower is an earring!

Do you have any vintage pieces that you would like to have a new, updated look? Email sweet_ps07@yahoo.com and we'll see what we can do!

How Quickly They Were Gone....

So I've had this picture in my head for the last few weeks and I finally went ahead and did the sketch. I have not put it on a shirt yet because I've been down with a migraine and didn't want to go to the store. So instead of heading out to get shirts, I thought I'd share about Sweet P's new Hand Drawn Design shirts.

It started with my daughter, as many things do these days.... She loves bikes! And I had some plain white onesies so after she had gone to bed one night, I drew her a bike on one of her onesies.

She loves wearing it and loves to point at it telling everyone she sees that she has a bike on her shirt! Once designing the bike I just could stop thinking of other things to put on shirts. I pretty much filled a sketch book full of designs and am now working on tweaking each one to be 'print-ready'. :)

Back to the balloons.... The idea has been forming in my mind for nearly three years now.... February 13, three years ago, I went in for a second ultrasound during my first pregnancy. I was 10 weeks pregnant and they hadn't been able to find a heartbeat at 8 weeks. They said it was too early.... At that 10 week ultrasound, there was not only no heartbeat - there was no baby. Needless to say, the next day was the absolute WORST Valentine's Day EVER! Oh, I tried to be normal and make the day special for my husband but the day ended with my fabulous husband convincing me that ice cream and video games makes everything better. I can honestly say that losing that baby was the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with and there are days I still cry about my little angel.

After my miscarriage, I kind of felt like I became a statistic... "1 in 4 pregnancies end in loss blah blah blah...." It's sad because one minute you have a tiny baby and the next you don't. You don't even really get to say goodbye. You haven't gotten to make any memories. It just seems like there is no closure. For a spit second I considered getting a memorial tattoo... but I couldn't do it... (I love tattoos... think they are in many cases GORGEOUS but not so much for me... maybe someday!) So instead I started thinking about a painting or drawing I could do since, well, that's what I do!

It's taken me all this time but I've finally put a picture with my feeling and it's the balloons. Out of all the balloons, one is floating away... the one that holds a piece of my heart.... Thankfully, he's floating to Heaven to be held in the arms of Jesus!

Coincidentally, a friend recently posted this on his facebook (get your tissues ready! You will cry!) for Sanctity of Life Sunday. Little Eliot's parents release 99 balloons at his funeral... one for every day he was alive... And his dad said it so well - "How quickly they were gone..."

That's the story behind my balloons. Many drawing yet to come! Most likely with silly stories behind them like, "What?!?! I thought a female lion was a tiger!!!" haha true story! :)

CONTEST TIME

Want to win a Valentine's mystery prize??? You know you do! Email a picture and your best Valentine's story - can be about, but not limited to, love, kids, friends - to sweet_ps07@yahoo.com! Your story and picture will be posted on our Facebook fan page for all of our fans to vote on.

Potato Soup Recipe

Okay so the potato soup actually turned out pretty good! I was really excited to make it because I love clam chowder but I'm allergic to seafood so the similar texture made me happy. I didn't write down all of the measurements because I hate measuring.... But here's my best guess :)

Potato Soup

3 garlic cloves chopped

1 large onion chopped

1/4 cup butter or margarine

15 potatoes peeled and cubed

4 cups water with 2 beef bouillon cubes dissolved (I only used this because I didn't have any chicken stock in the house. You can substitute 4 cups of chicken broth instead of the beef.)

2 cups whole milk (again... this is just what I had.... you could use any milk or heavy cream)

1 tablespoon of thyme

salt and pepper to taste

bacon cooked and crumbled

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

I made this in a regular pot on the stove top (because my crock pot was otherwise occupied) but I would use my slow cooker next time!

Melt butter and sauté onion and garlic. Add potatoes, broth, milk, and seasonings. Let simmer on low until potatoes are soft and starting to fall apart into the broth. Serve with cheese and bacon sprinkled on top. You could also try other toppings like green onion or sour cream and salsa! I like hot sauce in mine... It would probably be good in a bread bowl too! Yum!