Random Acts of Kindness

Happy Birthday to Me

For my birthday this year I asked for 43 acts of random kindness from my friends and family. Its been really cool seeing how creative people get and then the joy they experience when they do one.

My birthday's not over so here's just a partial list of what they've done so far.

1. Left money in a library book before returning it.
2. Gave Pacers tix to couple at Pizza Hut
3. Bought groceries for person in front of them who happen to be buying for a youth group event.
4. Took stray cat to vet for shots and neutering
5. Took groceries to local food pantry
6. Let someone go in front of them in checkout line
7. Went through McD's drive thru and paid for person behind them as well
8. A group is making dinner and serving it at the Ronald McDonald House
9. Went to the movies and bought someone else a ticket
10. Brought up neighbor's trash cans for them
11. Cleaned out freezer and made a donation to Third Phase
12. Gave a free haircut to cancer patient
13. Making a meal for a patient
14 Donated eggs to church to be used for baked good for youth group
15. Cupcake from the bakery for our favorite bus driver (other than AZ :) )
16. Orange Leaf gift card for dance teacher
17. Orange Leaf gift card for basketball coach
18. Gave a dozen cookies to the volunteers at the food pantry
19. Gave a complement to someone

If you'd like to participate just leave a comment letting me know what you did.

Thanks to everyone!

Dimensional Wall Decor

Losing My Mind

So I'm finding as I get older I have a harder time remembering what I ate yesterday, let alone how I decorated last year. So this year I made sure to take pictures of how I decorated to I can remember next year. Duh!

Really liked the look of my mantle last year. Of course I didn't take any pictures and I can't remember how I had it decorated. This year it turned out just ok but definitely needs a little help next year.

These beaded cones are actually one of my favorites. I like the dimensionality of them on the wall. And they are just cool to look at!

Christmas Decor

Hawthorns Christmas Display

Here are some pics of the displays I did at the Golf Shop.

Not bad for a small budget. Hoping to add more next year!

Magnetic Memo Board

Gettin' Crafty

I like to make a gift for a couple of my friends each Christmas. In the past I've done ornaments and pictures. This year I decided to make a fabric covered magnetic memo board with personalized magnets from an idea I saw on Pinterest.

It was so simple to make!
The most time consuming part was picking out the fabric.

Check out the Accidental Projects to see the steps how I made it.

Fall Decor

Hawthorns - Fall Decor

I'm a little behind (okay, a lot behind) in posts so I'm going to work hard this week in getting you caught up. A couple months ago I started working as a Visual Merchandiser at a local golf shop. Some of you asked to see some of the displays so I'm going to post the Fall and Winter pics this week. The shop is closed till March so I'm off for the winter.

These pictures are from the displays I did back in October.

More pics coming this week of the Christmas displays.

Ethnic Dinner Club

BRUGGE BRASSERIE

That time of month were my ethnic dinner group goes out to dinner at a different ethnic restaurant. This month we tried Belgian. We went to Brugge Brasserie in Broad Ripple. Very quaint place with great atmosphere. They brew their own beer and their specialty is the Triple Ripple. There is a limit of 2 per person because the alcohol content is 10%.

For an appetizer we went with the Frites. All kinds of unique dipping sauces from homemade ketchup to pesto and mustard with maple. All of them were very yummy! Hard to pick a favorite.

For dinner I went with a crepe. It was the special of the day - seafood crepe. Very tasty as well. Their other specialty is mussels.

We did not order dessert (but wished I did!). They had an apple crepe with carmel that looked awesome.

Next month French!

Outdoor Patio

Outdoor Living Room

On a whim I decided to sell my family room furniture in our garage sale in May. It sold right away which was great, however the bad part was I didn't have any furniture to replace it. I found some great furniture but it wouldn't be delivered for another 3 months. So in the meantime we needed a place to sit and since I also sold the patio dining table that gave me the idea to create an outdoor living room.

The Smith & Hawken furniture and the rug are from Target.com. The pillows are from Target. The table accessories are from West Elm and the big lanterns are from Crate & Barrel.

What a wonderful, cozy place to relax and enjoy the outdoors!