So what I love most about reading other people’s blogs are the ideas they give me… As you can see in my blog roll to the right, I have several blogs I regularly stalk because I love their style and creativity. {you should check them all out too!}

From those blogs and blogs linked to their blogs, I have a stack of {idea} printouts for bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms and more.  Each printout has a different design idea that I would like to implement around this house.  But currently these ideas are in a messy pile tucked into a manila folder and that is no way to treat fabulous ideas!!

So tonight I thought it would be good to make…

My Rosewood Ave Idea book.

Pretty Cute eh?

I took a simple photo album from Target.. Some paper from my scrapbook-ing pile..

and these fun thickers (chip board stickers)..

And Viola!

A inspiring idea book for inspiring ideas!

Remember how I was “tooting my own horn” about some homemade gifts I had created?  I can finally share them with you!

So Gift #1 was something that had caught my eye in a recent issue of Martha Stewart Home.

I immediately thought this would be a great gift for my Mums.  Her mother, Mary Stuart Ransone aka Granny, was an amazing cook and made everything from scratch.  I had casually asked my mom if she had any old recipes of Granny’s that I could borrow.  I think she knew I was up to something, but obliged my request and found several recipe’s for me that Granny had handwritten.

PERFECT!

Next step was to acquire some Color Fast Printer Fabric and a white apron.

I scanned each recipe and then printed it on the fabric paper.  After the ink dried, I removed the paper backer and ran the fabric through some cold water. I then laid out each piece of fabric to air dry.

Once dry, I trimmed the edges around each recipe and use my iron to create a finished edge.

“Martha” suggested just putting the recipe directly on the apron, but I thought it needed a little more pizazz.  I found this great fabric at a local quilting store that screamed Vintage to me.  My plan was to sew each recipe to the vintage fabric and then the fabric to the apron.

One on , one to go!

WOO-HOO!! I did it!  I was stressing that I was going to mess something up halfway through.  {Disclaimer- my sewing skills are R-O-U-G-H and I tend to jump in head first without thinking it all out.} But I did it!

I also thought it would be a cute touch to add the same fabric to the strap around the neck.

Here’s a close up detail…

And here it is all folded up ready to wrap up for my Mums!  Pretty cute isn’t it?

My Mums loved it and I couldn’t be happier!

So I found this great idea on one of the blogs I follow on a daily basis- {FRECKLES CHICK}.  She is much like I in the sense that I love Orchids, but I just can’t give them the kind of TLC they need to stay alive.  I followed her lead and created an almost real version for the new bathroom.  Here’s how.

I started by making a list of items I would need to create my almost real Orchid:

1. An orchid stem with Buds/flowers

2. Spanish Moss

3. A small container

4. A bamboo stick

5. Florist foam

I first hit up Ben Franklin Crafts, but was quite disappointed in their selection of almost real flowers.  Then I remembered {Freckles Chick} saying that she had gotten her supplies at Micheal’s.  I also hit up the Secret Marshall’s and scored a super cute container for dirt cheap!

Here’s a picture of all my supplies.

The next step was to cut the florist foam down to fit into the container.  Then I cut the stems to size and pushed them securely into the foam.  I also added the bamboo stick to the mix.  (The stick is purely for looks as we all know that this orchid isn’t going to be growing.  Normally the Stem is tied to the stick to help support the weight of the blooms)

Once that was done, all I had to do was add the Spanish moss to the base and VIOLA!  This project could not have been any easier.  Putting it all together took only 10 minutes tops!

Here’s a close up of how I tied the Stem to the Bamboo stick.

Here’s the Finished Product.  Not bad if I do say so myself!

I definitely think from far away this sucker looks pretty darn real.  Can you tell it’s not?