Smart, yes. Creative too.

Whenever I have a style question, I go to my sister. Whenever I have a funny story, I go to my sister. Whenever, I have a creative idea, I go to my sister and run it by her. Seriously, she's my go-to. Many people think I am the 'creative one' and she is the 'smart one.' While, she may indeed be the smarter one, she is also very creative. I keep pestering her to share some of her creativity with the world, but she has a full-time job, two kids and lately, a fun little love life...so, please prepare yourself world to be wowed by Brooksie Lane and some of her creative ideas this week (high-lighted by her sister with no kids, no full-time job but a wonderful love life)!!

Brooksie Lane has a great love for a few things in life: family, books, pens, games and jewelry. Yes, I said pens. I will highlight this love later! Anyway, growing up in the middle of the Missouri, us Springfieldians aren't always on the cutting edge of fashion (well, I'm not!). Buying fun jewelry in Springfield consists of going to Macy's, Dillard's or another store in the mall and trying to find something you like. After a while, there is only so much you can do....SO, what does my creative sister do?!? MAKE HER OWN!

I am just showing off one of her amazing necklaces that I think is amazing!! When I asked her how she did it, she said, "I don't know, I just kept making it until I liked the way it looked." For those of you who have never made anything hand-made, that is the secret...honestly! Make it until you like the way it looks. Chances are, if you like it, others will too!!

Yep, I love it! It reminds me of Betsy Johnson, only better!

Exercise always leads to food...always.

When we first moved to dear sweet Columbus almost a year ago, I had no friends...so I needed something to do with all my time. I started running. I know, I know...I probably could have found something more productive to do with my time, but running was what it was. I am half-way through with my 2011 New Year's Resolution of running one half marathon every month. When one runs as much as I have this year, one has plenty of things to think about. I often find myself brainstorming about reasons to throw a party...then, naturally this thought process takes me to how I can decorate for this party....what flowers I would use, the color scheme, the music and of course the food I'd have at this party! It's amazing how I can be in the middle of running 13.1 miles and my mind almost always ends up reflecting the topic of food. Hmmm.

Anyway, I am not a cook or a chef or a baker, but I try. Most everyone who reads my humble little blog knows I used to be a party planner for a bunch of big-wigs in Palm Beach. If I were to throw a party here in my dear sweet Mississippi, I probably wouldn't have the budget of a Palm Beacher...nor would I have the access to the variety of flowers or linens or anything along those lines. BUT, what I do have is food. Yes, finally, Mississippi being the fattest state in the union (I am not kidding about this fact) is paying off!

While creating amazing food is indeed a talent, I am not highlighting that talent right now. Instead, I just wanted to show one very fun way that food can be used in a centerpiece for a party! You have a beautiful arrangement of flowers at the top of a vase or container and the only thing at people's eye level?!?! GLASS! Not the most exciting thing in the world, no matter how clean and sparkly the glass is. A lot of people fill the glass with water and a little something extra....and it's a good look, don't get me wrong. HOWEVER, my favorite thing to fill a container with is food! You know my thoughts: Crafting (food in a vase is crafting in my eyes) always trumps cooking.

Anyway, below are some pictures of parties I have done in the past where food makes a statement.

Lemons and limes.

All sorts of fun fruit in this vase!!

It's not to fill the vase, but rather the whole focal point of the vase...kumkwats!



My dear friend just got married and had a beautiful wedding with purples and green being their colors. I helped out with their cocktail centerpieces and she wanted limes used somewhere. SO, even for a smaller container, fruit can be used!!



A carnival-themed party, so a vase filled with peppermints!

Back to the Most Creative House in the World...

I have taken a few days off from sharing ideas from my parent's house. I didn't want to overwhelm you with all the good home-decorating ideas at once, so I am spreading the creativity out! Now, back to the home:

I am high-lighting something very small today, but it warms my heart like nothing else...it's seriously amazing! Please glance at the picture below and what catches your eye most?

Yes, you might say the coke bottle (I took a picture in the middle of us eating dinner when I was visiting, so pardon any mess you see...It's my fault!). Or you might say the tile wall that she helped design herself. Or you might say the fresh looking cabinets, which she redid and painted herself. You might even say the turquoise/aqua painted back splashes in the openings in the cabinets. But, my focus right now is of the rectangle art at the top of the wall. I am so mad at myself for not taking a picture of this same exact room when the lights were off, because it would just blow your mind...SERIOUSLY!

Here is a close-up:

You might be thinking, what does that say? It says "Love always protects." Around the top of my parent's kitchen on pieces of leather (left-over from the leather wall in the bedroom, I am sure) are embroidered verses from 1 Corinthians 13...and they are embroidered in GLOW IN THE DARK THREAD!! Oh my amazing! We always need reminders of what the Bible says...especially when it is the darkest. Even if these didn't glow in the dark, they would still be fabulous...but they DO, so wowzers!

Morals of this creative little lesson: 1. Put God's word everywhere. I mean, really, can you ever go wrong with that? 2. Save your left-overs from other projects, because you will find another use for them, I promise! 3. If there is a spot on the wall that is bare, even if it's small, you can put something creative and unique there!

Can't spell, but I can write!

I am a bad speller. I use grammar wrong constantly. I have no idea what a preposition (Yes, I just googled the word 'preposition' to make sure it was indeed the thing I have no idea what it is) is still to this day. I have to think really hard when I play Mad Libs to and they ask for a particular part of the English language. To put it very bluntly, I am bad at English. HOWEVER, I love to write!!! No, no, no...not write books or poems or short stories or anything along those lines. I like (let's be honest, LOVE) to write letters. It brings me great joy to think that in a few short days someone will be sorting through a stack of bills or junk mail...and then, suddenly, they spot something written by an actual human. They see this envelop and they think....hmmm, maybe someone is getting married or graduated. Then, they open up the envelop and see that it is just a good old fashion letter from me!

When I have a lot to 'say,' I use notebook paper (college-ruled of course). When I just would like to say a quick 'hello and I love you,' I use a homemade card. When I want to wow their socks off, I use some of my homemade stationary! (I just learned how to make this INCREDIBLE stationary last week, so people who get regular letters from me, please prepare yourselves for your socks to be wowed soon).

Okay, while I will someday highlight cards and this to-die-for-stationary, the subject of this particular post is about the envelope. In my humble opinion...wait a minute....I take that back. My opinion in this matter is not humble. I keep the post office in business with my constant stamp-buying (these stamps are going up at ridiculous rates)...Therefore, in my non-humble opinion, I think the envelope is one of the most under-valued objects of American culture. There is not the proper respect given to the envelope as it deserves.

The envelope is to the letter as your makeup and outfit is to you: VERY IMPORTANT! While I hope you understand the importance of what I am saying here, please notice with equal awe of the simile (a comparison using like or as) I just used! Anyway....This is the first thing people see and it sets the whole mood of the letter. I may have some serious issues here, but come on people, give the envelope some respect. One might be thinking, how many ways could there possibly be to address an envelope? OH....let me show you! Some ideas below of some fun and creative ways you can make your envelope as special as the letter you are about to send. And....please if you aren't a "letter-writer," try it...you'll be shocked how much joy your insides will feel.

Write the person(s) name larger and in a pretty font. I covered up their address, to protect their privacy...and I already had this envelope ready to mail!

You can make the address into a simple shape, such as this butterfly!

Sometimes it is just fun to write in a bright color and make it very over sized, almost taking up the entire front of the envelope...I'm sure the mailman appreciates my extra large writing on this style!

It always adds such a special touch to make one letter extra big, more detailed and different than the rest!

One of my favorite ways to address letters...it is completely unique! The person's name goes on top and bottom, with the address in the middle in between two thick lines (use a ruler if you need).

If you are curious by now, Omega is my grandma and she gets letters weekly! A fun way to address the envelope is use different colors, curve the name, off-center the address and use different styles of hand-writing!

If you are going to just address the envelope like normal, you can always add a little flair on each letter
with hash-marks and indent each line.

You can put the name sideways in a different color for an added pop!

My favorite paper store of all time. Every color, every size, every weight of paper and envelopes you can imagine. It's literally like envelope-heaven on earth. I am sad to say that they used to know me by name in this store. If you live by an Xpedx, visit this store!!



There are so many ways someone can spice up an envelope, so be creative! I hope these gave you a few ideas. I will be back to sharing the creativity of my parent's home later this week...prepare yourselves to continue to be awed!

Cooking? Only if it's out of a scrapbook!

Cooking is almost like crafting. ALMOST. You work with your hands, create lovely things and get to enjoy the finished product after you are done. However, cooking has some pitfalls that crafting does not....which is why at the end of the day, I choose crafting! When you are finished doing a scrapbook page or painting a frame, you can just throw away your scraps, drop cloth and be done with it. BUT, cooking....ahhhh! You cook for a bit and you have to clean a hundred little tiny things when you are done. You have to make sure you don't leave any extra food out, because if you do, you will smell something rotten in a couple days. Even if you cook something AMAZING, you only get to enjoy it a few times. You spend all that time cooking and then 'poof,' your husband gets home and the food is gone. You spend time crafting, and you get to enjoy it FOREVER!

I realize that my logic might possibly be a little skewed, but nonetheless, it is where my opinion stays: crafting will always trump cooking. However, since cooking is a must for this stay-at-home-part-of-the-time-wife, I have turned my cookbook into something worthwhile! A cookbook scrapbook. 

This idea is NOT my own, but I love it! My aunts (years ago) put all our family recipes into a 5x7 cookbook and decorated each page. I, of course, had to be part of this project! As time has gone on and many more recipes have made it into my arsenal of cooking, I have added on to this cookbook. Last night in fact, I could not sleep, so got out some new recipes of mine, typed them into the computer, printed them out, cut them to a 5x7 size, decorated each little 'page' and then found them a special spot in my cookbook.

How to do it: type up your recipe (set the page margins what your cookbook scrapbook will be), print it out in easily readable but CUTE font...colors are good too, cut the page to size, add simple border to the page (You will be SHOCKED how many random boarder stickers you might have!), then add some fun stickers or embellishments to the page. WaaLaa, done!
If you are not a scrapbooker, or just learning how to scrapbook, this is the PERFECT project, because it is very quick and you can make it as complex or as simple as you would like. And, then, when you finally do decide to cook, it will just warm your heart that at least something in your kitchen will last forever....well, at least longer than your food!





Where my recipe book sits open in my kitchen next to all my other "regular" cookbooks.

Leather Walls? Yes Please!

You have an entire wall. You don't want to paint AGAIN. You don't want to buy expensive wall art that you don't really like anyways. You definitely don't want to leave it white.

What is a person to do? Leather!?!?!

On one of my parent's bedroom's walls, the entire wall is covered with leather. She went to a fabric store, bought a leather bolt. She didn't want the fabric to overlap in an unattractive way, so she bought pieces of wood trim, painted it silver and then added/mosaiced mini-mirrors to the center of each piece of wood. She then added silver studs throughout the leather to keep it attached to the wall. Oh, I just love it! When described, it sounds 'cowboy.' However, when you see it, it just looks classy, original and all sorts of good.

Their room is done in brown, silver and red and it is FABULOUS!

Below are some pictures of this leather-covered wall!

A view of the leather wall.

A close-up view of this leather wall with the silver trim dividers covered in mirrors! Ah, how creative!