Blog Hops and Parties....One Stop Sources for Inspiration

I am often asked, "Where did you get that idea?" or "How on earth did you do that?". Honestly, I am a serial recycler of all things creative. I learned through my fantastic Bethany Baptist MOPS mom friends that women are so diverse in their talents and when you bring a collective group of us together we can create amazing things. Whether it be a mood to a meeting, the vibe of a party, a great meal, a wonderful recipe. The year I was Coordinator my wonderful blessed friend Melissa politely suggested that I let her do all of the baking. She is a master! She is one of those rare beautiful souls that can both bake and cook mouth watering items. And she is right, she is far better than I in the culinary arts. It was her gift. My friend Stella, was the ambiance queen! She could make any room ooze with elegance and make any mother feel like she had escaped into a tranquil retreat for a couple of hours. My friend Heather has the gift of sweet presence. She loved you through cards, gifts, a good laugh. She was always looking out for the one who was in need of encouragement and came up with the most creative ways to do so.

When I moved overseas all of these fantastic women loved me in their special ways from afar. But I was missing the inspiration I drew from them through our chats over coffee. In this, I found the gift of Blogs.

I found myself drawn to the inspiration posted by these amazing women. I had a new source of inspiration for my creative recycling. I was drawn to those that hosted Link Up parties. It was one stop creative shopping. My favorite was the Weekend Wrap Up by Jen at Tatertots and Jello. It was huge. She often has several hundred creative projects posted to her party every week. I found great ideas and added them to my favorites and came back to them later.

Often I found that I was coming back to my new favorite blogs for inspiration and began "following" them. And now I have wonderful circle of creative women that I have seen transform their homes, families and make every Holiday special.

I would encourage you to look to the sidebar of my blog. I have buttons to my favorites ready for you to click on. Take a look at these great blogs for the chance to be inspired!!! This week I am adding a new one...check it out!

Happy St Patricks Day

This year we really got into the spirit of this fun holiday that often goes by in a flash. We decorated our table setting. Mr. Bohlen brought home a fresh shamrock plant for the kitchen. The Mom Squad, as I affectionately refer to the greatest group of moms in Katy, TX that I am blessed to call friends and I were having coffee the other morning and since our fearless Girl Scout Troop leader was going to be at the Rodeo for our meeting, we planned a St Patrick's Day themed meeting. We had the girls make the most adorable Blarney Stone and read the Legend of the Blarney to them. the girls were hooked. Jen collected some river rocks out of her garden and we had the girls dip their finger in glue and stamp out the shape of a shamrock. They coated their shamrock in green glitter and Bam! They had a cute Blarney Stone.

Next we had the girls make a Leprechaun Trap. We told the girls about the Legend of the Leprechaun. And since they are curious, we decided to build a trap to lure them to find the gold at the end of the rainbow. We found this fun idea here Disney Family Fun. The girls had such a great time putting together their traps and scheming ideas as to where to set them up.

We provided the moms with chocolate gold coins to place in the traps from time to time and on St Patricks Day. My daughter checked her trap constantly and was so excited whenever she found her gold coins.

Which brings us to this morning. I welcomed the family to get into the St Patricks Day spirit with rainbow pancakes that I found at Tablespoon.com. The recipe calls to place your rainbow fruit skewers across the top of your pancakes, but my skewers were too heavy to stand and I wanted to incorporate clouds and a Shamrock and gold Coin into my design. The kids LOVED them. These could really be used to brighten any day!

So I will incorporate these colorful rainbow skewers into our lunch or dinner to keep the celebration alive and read the Story of the Shamrock.

Are you short on time today? Are you on the run? Looking for a fun way to get out of the house on Spring Break? Chic Fil A is serving green ice cream and lemonade today! Happy St Patrick's Day!

Whoopdwhoop!!! It's Awesome!

I know so many talented creative people that really have their niche and maybe admirethe creative vision of others in other mediums. I have found the perfect answer. Whoopdwhoop

What is the Whoopdwhoop about Whoopdwhoop....well it was the creators vision to create a community where artisans could share their talents, creativeness and creations with others not through money, but through swapping. We wanted a place where people could list their handiwork (photography, paper crafts, jewelry, art, sewn items, basically anything that they have handmade) and then swap them for other's handmade items- completely eliminating the need for money.


It was this idea that sparked the life of whoopdwhoop.com. Whoopdwhoop is a unique, currency free marketplace where individuals can both list their creative endeavors and 'shop' for other's creative endeavors- all without the use of money. Points (whoops) are earned by both listing and swapping your handiwork. You can then take the whoops that you have earned and 'shop' within the whoopdwhoop community. It's the perfect way to partake in some retail therapy and not feel guilty! It's free, it's easy, and it's fun.

Whoop it up with whoopdwhoop!

Becoming Obsessed with Molding

Since taking some time off of work, I have been finally inspired to turn our beautiful house into a home. Mr. Bohlen worked with the builder to pull together all of the big picture elements of our home and together we poured through catalogs and websites to add the finishes. When it was all pulled togther we moved in...and it sat as it was...and sat, and sat...for almost four years...

Mr Bohlen was perplexed, we have remodeled two homes in the Seattle Area and turned what once had good bones and in need of lots of love into masterpieces. Like the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding who thought that everything could be fixed with a good squirt of Windex, I thought that all of the world's problems could be solved with a good coat of paint. So why wasn't I painting?

I had this beautiful home and wanted to do it just right...perfect and could not commit to the perfect design plan. Well the time came that my son needed a new bed and so I emptied his room and the painting began. Mr. Bohlen rejoiced!!! More on that to come.

Now that I have his room in motion, I am thinking about what to do next. I think my new mantra is nothing makes a space more grand than molding. I have been gushing over my friend Jen's recessed full panel walls that she has painted a celery green in her restored tutor. And it got me looking through Blogland for some inspriration and I thought I would share these wonderful ideas with all of you!

I am still looking for inspiration. Please share your ideas on how to use molding or spaces that you have decoarted and I will feature your ideas here!

Here is the Accidental Molding Masterpiece from Ladybird Lane
 

My next stop was Tidbits from Treymane...all  I can say is wow!!! I had to read through all of her archives. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! I am actually going to attempt her pantry redo in my home as my pantry sits out in the middle of the walkway in plain view and could use some wow factor.

Here is her inspiration from AD...


Here is her pantry before. It is alot like mine where it sits in the main through fare. They say the hearth is the heart of the home...but I am thinking that the pantry really is, given where they are built.



And viola!!! Here is the after...



Next stop is a great example of the Bead and Batten style with It's the Little Things that Make a House a Home


Isn't her family room so welcoming and gorgeous!!! Here is a couple of detail shots of the same room.


And another...
And here is some inspiration from a focal wall turned into an Alphabet Wall by Girl in the Air
Before



And after...