is it really thursday already? wow. time sure flies when it’s sunny. so i did get a couple more packages from my giveaway win. please know, i’m sharing these giveaways with you because i really, really love the stuff i’m getting and i think that the people/retails that participated are really sweet and talented people.

but, before we get to what i got, check out what i made!

these little goodie bags are for my open house this weekend. (speaking of open house … did you see our new items and enter the giveaway?) so i used some glassine bags that i won from here and filled them with some yummy candy and another special treat (which i can’t speak of yet). closed the bag, wrapped it with baker’s twine and sealed everything with a homemade sticker. i designed the image myself in MS publisher and used this sticker paper to print the stickers.

everyone that makes a purchase in the shoppe will get a little bag. aren’t they cute? i think these would make really unique baby/bridal shower favors…even wedding favors… or fun gifts for a dinner party! i love that they are customizable.

thanks to pack it pretty for the wonderful goodies (and ultimately inspired my giveaway bags)!

and a big thanks to caramelos for these goodies!

this is how my things were wrapped. neat! i really need to get myself a circle punch. but surprisingly they seem oddly expensive!? i can’t get over the price tag. maybe it’s just me.

little mini candle sticks. too sweet.

i love anything lime green, and although this mushrooms look quite big here they are only about a half an in tall. fun. fun. fun! makes and plant (or package) look extra special!

lovely boxwood leaf ribbon.

still waiting for one more package. i think it may be here tomorrow or saturday. now back to work. still pretty busy around these parts.

it’s a busy week here at old charm. lots of guests coming and going. and spring seems to finally be here, so bunches of outside projects have been added to my to-do list. taking my pots of out the shed, hooking up the garden house, uncovering all my perennials that were tucked under the snow. it feels so good to be back outside. sun shining. hands in the dirt. watching the world come back alive as it gets a little greener everyday. i love it!

but, work must be done inside too. the other day i saw these sweet little cupcakes here, and decided that’s what i’d make for my open house. (oh, and speaking of open house, did you enter our super stunning giveaway!?)

they look great… and yummy, right? and so simple and rustic. love that! they call for grapeseed oil. i never used it before. i wonder i you’ll be able to notice the difference? my mom has generously offered to make the cupcakes and i’m making the little tags. since i don’t have a circle punch/cutter, i decided to go with a square, which i like just the same.

ah, so sunny! i made my tags double sided. after cutting them out, i just glued (with rubber cement) them back to back with a toothpick in between. super easy. just a little time consuming.

i’m also hoping more of my giveaways arrive! for a portion of my winnings i ordered some glassine bags. if they arrive in time everyone that make a purchase in the shop this weekend will get a little treat! and who doesn’t love that? hurry little bags!

…bold yet refined.

so it’s starting. my packages from my big win have officially begun to arrive. it’s like over stimulation. i’m obsessed with mail (i will be very upset if ‘they’ stop delivering mail six days a week..anyway), and i love stationary, and handwriting, and business cards… wow.

so, my first package came from sweet provisions. a beautiful little shop.

isn’t the mailing label the coolest? and her handwriting! so jealous. love it! ah, it’s the simple things that get me.

and these business cards. too cool. i officially hate my business cards.

some glassine bags. wrapped with some neat old papers. there is something about this handwriting and this old paper…so nostalgic.

another sweet tag with a pretty little bloom with the neatest little staples. (which I probably should have fluffed up before taking the picture), but I failed to do that. but i still love it.

this was a seal on one of the envelops. so genius. and again with the staples. i love the little staples!

and sweet little dennison birds.

i hope you enjoyed sharing in my excitement. thanks sweet provisions. thank you.

again, you can visit the shop or check out the blog. hope you are having a nice weekend.

wet here. yuck.

i am in no way a designer, a ‘wanna be’… yes… but professional designer… no. i do like it though, and somewhere in me there may be a talent for it. who knows? anywho, a friend of my sister-in-law is looking for help with her mantel. here it is…

if you can’t tell there is a tv right above it, so that limits what can be put on the mantel. below are my suggestions to get things started. she didn’t know exactly what she wanted, so I provide a sampling of ideas as inspiration. you can click on the images to see bigger verisons as the text may be hard to see.

i love these globes. love. i can’t tell you how much. i think i may start a collection of my own!

i could have a house full of topiaries. i’d probably end up killing them all, but it would be amazing for about a week or so.

hopefully this mantel story will have a happy ending. and if i do get pictures of the finished project i will be happy to share.

all the images were collected over a 2-3 hour internet search, so where they are from, i have NO idea. if you need to know or would like to know, let me know and I will do my best to find it again.

so what do you think? how’d i do? what do you like? what would you do? other ideas or suggestions?

this is my take on eggs in a hole. you can get a recipe anywhere, she has a good one here (but a bit different in preparation). i’m not going to write a full recipe as this is pretty simple and my to-do list is quite long today. yikes!
first things first, you need a hole in a piece of bread of your choice. this is wheat. yum. i used a heart cookie cutter this time, but often just use the rim of a glass to create a circle. then use melted butter to butter your toast and the shape you removed (both sides folks).

place buttered bread on griddle or pan and brown one side. flip and crack an egg into the hole. salt and pepper. cook until the egg is pretty well set, but not burnt. the top will still be runny and wet. transfer to a cookie sheet and place in your oven set to broil. watch carefully until the egg is set to your liking. don’t walk away because your toast and egg will burn. trust me.

and that’s it people! if you want better directions, just google it and you will get tons of variations. you can also do scrambled eggs in a nice rustic Italian bread. yum! these also go by many other names… egg in a basket, toad in a hole, etc…

fun right? i don’t do fried eggs… so this is a perfect alternative. maybe you can surprise your significant other with a special treat tomorrow morning. fry some bacon and brew some coffee and your done!

tgif….oh wait… it’s only thursday. i think i’m about ready for this week to be over. you? the sun is shining. the snow is melting. finally. i’m ready for spring.

have you signed up for our giveaway yet? you can do so here. you have until monday. good luck!

so, you are probably wondering what poop cookies are…. well, here they are!

despite their appearance, that’s how they got their name (keep reading). i don’t know about you, but i like…scratch that… NEED sweets after dinner. i just do. but when one is trying to be mindful about what one is eating it’s hard to fill that need. enter, poop cookies.

they consist of two ingredients. chips (chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch, white chocolate, whatever you like) and all brand fiber one ‘original’ cereal. for those of you that don’t know, a serving of all brand fiber one contains over 50% of your daily fiber intake…wow…and that’s why these cookies are called poop cookies. ‘nuf said.

so they are more than simple. using a double boiler system (glass boil on top of a pan with boiling water {be sure the water is not touching the bottom of your boil}) melt your chips. You need a standard bag of chips. I mixed peanut butter and chocolate together. do what you like.

once melted, mix in a box of all-bran cereal. you want the original kind that looks like little pine needles (18oz box). then, using a spoon or your kitchen utensil of choice, scoop them out onto wax paper. cool. then consume.

it’s that simple! not only are these cookies tasty, they give you the fiber your body needs. you could jazz these up by adding coconut, dried cherries, nuts, etc. and for those of you familiar with weight watchers you get two cookies for one point.

credit goes to my mom for the recipe even though its probably somewhere on the internet. enjoy your guilt free treat!

***update: the ‘offical’ recipe calls for FiberOne cereal. whoops. but my mom said mine tasted just the same. so… use what works for you.

ta da! instead of using just ribbon on your paper… wrap it up with twine! (i’m practicing for the lovely package exchange!{which if full already, in case you were wondering})

to do this, i just tied my white ribbon on first. then taped an end of my twine to the bottom of the package, under the ribbon then wrapped and wrapped and wrapped (in no particular fashion) and wrapped and wrapped around the package. when i was satisfied i taped my other end of twine again to the bottom of the package under the ribbon.

i left two tails on my white ribbon to tie a bow. since they were wrapped up under the twine, I pulled them out, tied a bow and cut a dovetail in the ends! that’s it. a beautiful and unique package… i think.

and i know i mentioned this before, but don’t you love this paper!? pasily and polka dots… you seriously can’t go wrong. i found it at the local dollar store. one buck a roll people. not only is it a good (you can’t see through it) quality paper with attractive designs it doesn’t have tape on it to hold the roll together once you remove the wrapping. don’t you hate when you have to peel that super sticky tape off and end up riping your paper! agh. so annoy. not with this stuff.

i’ll be stocking up on these papers. for sure. unless you beat me to it.

i love searching the internet and my favorite blogs to see what treasures people have found and created. the other day i came across this image and immediately thought of my sister-in-law. it looked just like her. i quickly emailed her the picture, and as expected, she liked it too.

i love the mix of old and new. love it. i also think the idea of putting this shelf above a door is interesting as that space is usually wasted. you could create this shelf fairly easy with an old piece of wood and a couple brackets (bought or make your own). custom and homemade is always a little extra special…at least i think.

this morning i was looking through the new west elm catalog and stumbled across a similar image. sorry for the poor quality on this image. i took a picture of the catalog (couldn’t find the image online [page 40 of their March catalog])

here they used a really clean and modern shelf with some neat old accessories (and a couple new). an old paint brush some other wooden things… maybe candle molds… and some aluminum cylinders found here.

just by doing a quick ebay search i came up with these items that would look really neat on a shelf. all images are from ebay. i would include links by most of the auctions are ending soon.

search: vintage alarm clock

search: old paint brush (this is actually a print block with an image of a paint brush)

search: wood plane

search: old paint brush

most of these items were under $10 with shipping. but i’m sure if your searched around your house (or head to your local goodwill) you could find things even cheaper.

sometimes you need to look at the shapes and/or color of your objects rather than what the object actually is. i think that’s what make these two above shelves really simple. all the items work together really nicely. there are basically only 3 colors on each shelf.

i also think the silver element, present on both shelves, is really important. you can find those very cool aluminum cylinders here. or again, use what you have.

so, this post is basically for my sister-in-law, but maybe it will help some of you too. have fun with it. and use what makes you happy. these are only suggestions, not rules.

oh, i’m exited. i have been following this blog and i’ve been waiting for this post to come and it’s finally here!
check out oh, hello friend for all the details, but its basically an exchange of pretty packages from one complete stranger to another. everything is wrapped in beautiful and intersting ways. it’s a way for the ‘blogging community’ to connect on a different level. you can go gaga over the images of past packages at the LPE flickr group. beautiful right? anyone can enter to be a part of this as long as you have a blog or website. so get over there and check it out!!

what a weekend. i’m actually glad its’s over. anyway, while browsing the internet over the weekend, i stumbled across these very cool and inspiring prints over at the love shop.

i am so sick of seeing ‘live, laugh, love.’ yuck. but I think this is a modern take on the same message. most of her prints have simple messages that either warm the heart, give a dose of inspiration or make you feel the love. and who doesn’t need a little of that?

different sizes are available and you can play around with the background color to match your specific space! cool. right?

a constant reminder of hope, dreams and love. and some that are just fun.

neat for an office right? even a splash of contemporary (and a learning tool) for a kids room? too fun. too. fun.

i’m sure we all need to remember this message at least once throughout our day. dressed up in a big white matte and white frame it becomes a beautiful reminder.

swing on over to her shop, if you like these, i’m sure you’ll find even more to love at the love shop! (and thanks to the love shop for letting me use your images)

have a great week everybody!

you. must. make. this. tomorrow. (or right now)

i love monkey bread and this is one of the best recipes. to die for people! (oh and i don’t have an angel food cake pan, so I just used mini loaf pans… use what you have… just adjust the cooking time.)

oh, and this woman is amazing. check out the rest of her recipes. ya-mmy!

do you get martha stewart living? if you don’t, i think you should. just my opinion. i’m not the biggest martha fan, but i must admit she does have some good and sometimes brillant ideas. like this one…

image found here.

in the march issue of living she gives instructions to create these faux stone planters known as hypertufa. i have been drooling over them since i saw the article. now i’m hating this snow outside even more. (i would not attempt to do this inside as i’m sure i’d find a way to cement the pot to the floor, wall or ceiling.)

photo from here.

this one’s made using a basket as a mold. too cool right?

photo from here.

as soon as it melts, i am doing this. i did some research and found some inspirations. even a video (below).

i’m thinking about doing retangular or square ones… which are pictured in the magazine, but not online. you can also add powdered cement coloring to your mixture to create a really unique piece to match your space. i’m thinking about doing tans and brown as the foundation of the bed and breakfast is a stone/tan color.

directions from martha can be found here. but if you google ‘hypertufa‘ you can find a bunch of images, tutorials, images etc.

check out this video on making hypertufas.

will you try this? have you done this? how would you do it different? would love to hear your ideas.

…now available in our gift shoppe!

i started with this…

…then this…

…cooked to this…

and finally… to this! (looks like jam in heaven, right?)

yum. another creation of my own (no recipe here!). it tastes like blueberry pie… then it hits the back of your tongue with a pineapple surprise. super yum!

i wrapped up a couple gifts yesterday to welcome my new niece to the world and to wish my mom a happy, happy birthday. and since i LOVE wrapping presents (it’s almost an addiction people), i thought i’d share…

i found the paper at the local dollar store for $1 per roll! amazing. the ribbon i got at Wal-mart. Not the best quality, but looks great and a nice price. plus there was actually ribbon on the roll unlike some that you buy where there is barely enough to make a bow! (and i knew it was good when i went back to get more and it was pretty much gone!)

then i added some sweet homemade pom-poms to the package to make it a little more special. i found a pom pom making tutorial, but i need to do some searching to find the link. i’ll post it when I do.

and, although a little ‘out-of-season’, this is how I wrapped my christmas gifts this past year. while the colors may not be appropriate for this time of year, the application can be used for any celebration.

i first wrapped the package in brown kraft paper. you could also use brown paper bags to make this extra thrifty. then i got a long strip of coordinating paper and wrapped that around the brown paper. i then used strips of fabric, tore from a piece of fabric to match, to wrap around the package (i just tied a knot, but you could also make a bow). again you can use fabric left over from another project. who needs to buy ribbon!

to finish things off i then wrapped the package with some hemp twine. again, use what you have. baker’s twine would be perfect too. when tying the twine i slipped in a piece of artificial pine… you could use a flower, a homemade pom-pom, an ornament, cookie cutter, etc. again… use what you have. i added a matching tag and that’s it! very original gift. almost too pretty to open.

happy monday! be sure to check back later or mid week. i’m hoping to put up another exciting giveaway.