Friday Giveaway: from Shabby Apple!

Hello and Happy Friday!!! When the sweet people over at Shabby Apple approached me with a giveaway from their amazing clothing site, I just knew it would be a perfect fit for a blog giveaway! If you haven't found Shabby Apple yet, you are in for a special treat!



Shabby Apple is a fanciful online boutique whose specialty just happens to be pretty vintage inspired clothing and accessories. - think Anthropologie-ish with beautiful photographs and realistic price points - What impresses the artist within me most, about Shabby Apple, is that each of their collections are inspired by a theme and then each of the dresses within that collection has a coordinating name. (I love that simple cohesiveness of each collection!)



Here's a few of my top picks! The Mad Hatter collection - a whimsical Alice in Wonderland inspired line and my personal favorite - the Yosemite collection. (I would like one of each please!) I could also see me wearing one of these fun aprons from the Boysenberry collection while spending a Saturday afternoon baking! Lastly, the Oh la la collection how nice a Paris vacation would be right now!







They also have dreamy accessories, super cute heels and even a little girls clothing line! (My good friend Christine and I spent some more time, this morning, chatting on the phone with our morning coffee all while shoe shopping :)




Are you smitten with all of the pretty dresses? I can certainly see the need for a few new Spring dresses in my near future :) I'm super excited to be able to giveaway a $75.00 gift card from Shabby Apple to one of my lovely blog readers!

To enter this giveaway:

1. please visit the Shabby Apple Facebook page and click on the 'Like' button.

2. then pop back here and leave a comment on this post!

Super simple right! I'll be choosing a lucky winner on Tuesday. Good luck to you! xo ~T

glitterly gold and a little pink

Over at the Crate blog today, I've introduced my newest monthly post: 'It's a Wrap!' The last day of each month I'll be posting my thoughts and hopefully some new ideas all centered around gift-wrapping! It's kind of an easy-breezy post for the end of the month, simple and with pretty photos. I think I'm going to create a gift theme for each month, that way I'll have my color combination posts and a themed gift wrap post for the month and with a little luck the posts will hopefully compliment each other! (That's the hope!)

This month, I went the route of a baby-shower theme. I think baby-showers and Spring somehow go hand in hand together.... which is perfectly ok because I love soft muted baby colors and shopping for sweet little baby items.

There's lot's of details and how-to's over on the Crate blog.

Gift Wrap details:


trims, sequins, ruffle crepe paper: thrifted
Bakers Twine: thrifted vintage
Journal Tags: Crate Paper (Story Teller collection)
Yo-yo & Gold leaves: handmade by me
gift-wrap papers: thrifted

There are some exciting things in the works at our little casa today. Chase and I are patiently waiting for the landscapers to arrive and start on our backyard - I've never been so happy to see grass and small cactus's! :) While I wait, I'm just putting the final touches on Crate's color challenge that kicks off this Friday and on Friday afternoon, here on my blog, I'll be doing a fun little giveaway that you won't want to miss! I can't wait to share that giveaway, I've been dreaming about it all week!

Have a wonderful sunny afternoon! ~ Tara

Fruit and Water combined

Hello and happy Monday morning to you! I'm spending the morning working on a new monthly post for Crate Paper (check out the blog on Wednesday!!) but wanted to take a little break to post the rest of my photos from the guest-spot on Jessica's blog! I had originally planned on doing a crafty type post for her blog but it just wasn't happening and then the idea to do a easy recipe seemed much more realistic. I had about a day to decide on a project and get it photographed. :)

A post all about Infused Water it is!

Because we live in the desert, dry has taken on a whole new meaning and to remedy that unfortunate fact - we drink ALOT of water. I remember my first spring/summer in AZ watching people walk with a gallon of water in hand and thinking it was a tad bit overkill. Now, 10 summers later, I've come to realize that a gallon of water a day is a must! Since water can be bland at times, especially with the 10 and under crowd here's a couple of ideas for spicing it up... or sweetening it up!

Strawberry - Cucumber Infused water

You will need: 1 pitcher of cold water, half of a peeled cucumber - sliced and 6 sliced strawberries

Push the fruit down into the water and let set for just a few minutes. Of course the longer you let the fruit and water blend together the stronger the flavors will be. If you're planning on making this for guests, make it right before you'd like to serve it. I've found that the strawberries tend to use their vibrancy when I leave them in the water for too long (3+ hours) and they don't look as pretty as when I first slice them! I like fruit to look fresh!

The best part of infused water is that you can play with different fruit combinations to see which ones suit you taste! Whenever we have guests over I keep a pitcher of the Strawberry/Cucumber chilled in the fridge, I've found the majority of people like how refreshing it is - even my finicky Chase will drink it! My other favorite combinations are Peach/Mint leaves, Lemon/Raspberry and Honeydew Melon/Green Apple.

Table Scape details:

Table runner - a DIY project that cost about $12 and only took me an hour to make - I made it right before taking these photos!

Vase for flowers - found coffee can at the grocery store (I walked around looking for any type of container with the yellow and red colors on it. I love the high contrast between red/yellow and black/white.)

Succulents - planted in thrifted tart tins and tea canisters

Paper straws - purchased from Etsy

Mason Jars - thrifted

Glass Pitcher - Pier1, purchased last summer

Have a lovely Monday!

8 things I love: Saturday

. by taraanderson featuring amrita singh jewelry

Oh my! - what a week it has been! I'm so happy it's the weekend, relieved really and even though it's not looking to be a lazy type of weekend - I'll take anything that resembles a less rushed and hectic schedule! I have my fingers crossed that if I can finish all... or most of my to-do list, I'll be able to escape out of the house tomorrow for a little retail therapy. I'm on a mission to find a little black dress and possible a new pair of heels! (I say little but really what I want is a mid-calf length possibly retro inspired dress.) Peter and I have 3 black tie* optional weddings to attend over the next 6 months, it's been quite some time since I've been to a formal wedding. I'm hoping new shoes will be the motivation I need to get moving today on that to-do list!

I'm going to try and pop back in this weekend to post photos. My blog is turning into a 2nd flickr account. ;) xo ~ T

8 things I love: Saturday

easy weekend by taraanderson featuring summer tote bags

It's feeling more and more like the beginning of Spring here! As much as I love my pretty wool coats, black boots and cozy scarves... I wouldn't be opposed to some easy-breezy weekends either. Soon enough!

My weekend includes; cleaning, laundry, having a sweet friend over to check out the new house, and trying to decide on an art project - horses or elephants? I'm so torn and I've been thinking about this since last night and still have no idea which one to use??? To many possibilities! :)

flowers, black stripes & a guest post

I'm spending a little time on my friend Jessica's blog - Scrumdillydilly! Jessica was nice enough to be a guest on my blog over the summer, so I thought I'd return the favor! It also gave me an excuse to buy flowers and put together a new tablescape and I just couldn't resist. :)

This was also probably the most fun with color I've had in awhile! Hop over to Jessica's blog to check out my guest-post!

our Valentines Day

~ in photos! Yesterday ended up being super busy but I did manage to squeeze in a few photos throughout the day!

Valentines tablescape - there's some more photos of our table if you keep scrolling down.

Flowers from the little boy - he smelled all of the flowers before finally deciding on these ones. The sweet part about it is that these don't smell very nice. :))

Bruschetta is always a good choice, it's takes no time to make and looks pretty in a large glass jar!

The Shrimp Fettuccine was wonderful - you can't really go wrong with seafood, pasta and a creamy cheese sauce. I should post the recipe, it's so easy to whip up!

Chase and I had some time to make cupcakes and while they were baking I created these tiny flags with left-over Crate Paper scraps. I'm always looking for any excuse to use up extra paper!

These heart place-cards were a little project I made up for Crate Paper this week! I created a set of 4 heart shaped pockets with every one's initial on the front and sewed a lace/tulle pocket on the back to hold a small 'love-note' written to Peter and each of the kids. Just an extra detail that makes themed dinners so fun!

and I did, somehow, find a little bit of extra time to pull the sewing machine out and make some paper garlands for the kitchen. **the large butterflies are hand cut** I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon making something. I need to come up with a good idea by tomorrow so I can get it photographed by Friday! Nothing like a little pressure to get you moving - right? Happy half-way-through-the-week day!

Monday Menu

it's back! I've been playing with the idea of re-introducing this series of posts and today seems like the perfect Monday!

menu 2-13 by taraanderson featuring plastic jewelry

I'll start the menu for tomorrow since dinner tonight is already over with and it wasn't exciting enough to write about anyway. :)


Tuesday: Valentines Day!!
Shrimp Fettuccine with a Parmesan Cream sauce
Garden Salad
Bruschetta on grilled Sourdough
Chocolate Strawberries & Mini Cupcakes


Wednesday:
Pork Chops w/ pan seared apples
Mashed Potatoes
Garlic Green Beans
Garden Salad

Thursday:
Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches
Broccoli Salad

Friday:
Terriyaki Chicken Thighs
Brown Rice
Peas and toasted Almonds
Garden Salad

Saturday:
French Dip Sandwiches (I make mine in the slow cooker)
Coleslaw with Blue-cheese and poppy seeds

Sunday:
Garlic Herb Strip Steak
Caprese Salad
Roasted Rosemary Fingerling Potatoes (I typically hate potatoes but I made these last month while my sister was visiting and they were, by far, the best potato I've ever had! I hate them a little less now :))

** If you plan on posting your menu somewhere please leave me a link! I love to check out what other people are planning for dinner.... yah I'm kind of nosey like that. I have a very full day planned for tomorrow: Alaina's class play and then Valentines party, Chase's class party, I need to prep everything for dinner, make the desserts, make little-tiny flags for the cupcakes and sew a bunch of garlands for the kitchen, finish a science project with A and write up a post for the Crate blog..... whew! I'm so happy I work well under pressure - I probably shouldn't leave so many things for the last minute either..... Oh well, no one is perfect.

Happy Valentines Day to everyone! Hope your day is filled with pretty flowers, yummy candy and lots of love! xo ~ T

8 things I love: Saturday

. by taraanderson featuring bell bottom jeans

Popping in to say hi this morning!!! I made it through the week, a little more tired than usual, but at least it's the weekend. oh yay! I've plans to work on Alaina's science fair project all weekend and then the kids' Valentines cards for class parties this coming week. There is always something to do!

craft closet - finished.... almost

I'm happy to report that with each day I'm able to sort through and unpack a few more boxes at a time and the house is starting to look more like home and not like a crazy storage facility! I ended up getting sick and spending the entire first week, after we moved, in bed. All that time lost. So, I'm trying to play catch up now and nothing will get you moving faster than having unexpected guests needing to spend the weekend with you! Typically, I hate surprises. I need ALOT of time to adjust to changes but hearing from a good friend yesterday who needs to place to stay while recovering from a recent operation, I decided to put aside my typical freak-out reaction and rather hurry to get the house ready for guests tomorrow! I probably won't be posting much this weekend and throughout next week because of said guests. I imagine I will be spending the majority of my time cooking and cleaning for 3 extra people. I did always say I wanted a house big enough for lots of extra guests!!(I just didn't think it would happen 2 weeks after moving into a larger home :))

Chase and I have been running around putting things away this morning when I passed by my craft room and much to my amazement, it actually looks.... normal. Especially the closet! I got super lucky and have a large walk in closet - perfect for all my stuff! I'll be changing out some of the wire baskets for closed boxes and I still need to thin out my paper collection but I'll get there. Probably not this week but sometime soon I hope! I've also decided I'm in desperate need of a sewing table!

Ok, now back to cleaning house!!