pyrex and westmoreland milk glass

just added to the brandeye etsy shop, a vintage aqua pyrex mixing bowl. i'm using it to store my sewing machine needles until it sells. it's adorable!

and a westmoreland milk glass pitcher. would look great filled with flowers or use it to serve some summer drinks.

pet portrait gift and eco wrapping

i painted my friends beloved cat santucci for a bridal shower gift. she is a photographer (melissahassey.com) and so i got the photo of their cat off of her website.

i will soon be listing pet portraits in my etsy shop. i am trying to figure out all the the details at the moment (shipping, wait time, cost, etc...) if you're interested and too impatient for a listing, you can drop me an e-mail at brandiadoff(at)gmail(dot)com.

i couldn't figure out how to wrap it so that it would be obviously fragile (it was a still little wet, oops, i didn't start it soon enough). the tissue paper wasn't big enough so i wrapped it in a table runner from my store and some ribbon and voila... a perfect gift wrap, which in itself is also a gift.

my favorite dress

chances are if i went to your wedding in the past year or will go to your wedding in the next year, i'll be wearing this dress. i absolutely love it. the autofocus was obviously not working on the camera.

love the shoes too.

free gift wrapping

need to buy a housewarming, engagement, birthday, shower or wedding gift? free gift wrap for all www.brandeye.etsy.com purchases. just send me a message at checkout with your details.

my one hundred (and third) post

i passed my 100th post without even realizing it. who even knew i had this much to say?
thanks for listening, all 12 of you, you know who you are.

i love people in the background of pics. especially when they are wearing fanny packs.

happy earth day

it's no secret that our environment is changing. there are so many little and easy things that you can do to lessen your impact on the planet. if we all do as much as we can, we will make a difference.

-turn down your heat (or AC)
-turn off lights when you're not in the room
-unplug things when not in use
-carry fabric bags in your car to use for shopping
-get a rain bucket to collect the water from your roof to water your plants (i need to do this)
-start a compost pile
-shorten your showers and water use
-buy (or make) your own cleaning products that are eco friendly. don't be fooled by marketing, look at the ingredients listed.
-have a spray bottle of vinegar and water, it will clean almost anything (windows, surfaces, floors...)
-reuse items in your home or donate them to a charity if they are still in good condition.
-use cloth napkins and dish towels instead of paper (i need to work on this)

here are some flowers for you to enjoy from my and my parent's yards.

this is the only remaining bulb from the two sets i brought back from holland. the damn squirrels ate the rest!

diy wedding flowers part 2

as mentioned the other day, i will be doing the wedding flowers for my brother-in-law and future-sister-in-law's (which sounds weird, from now on known as brian and morgan of www.brianlovesmorgan.com fame) wedding. it's not until august, but it's never too early to practice. especially since i haven't ever really done this before!

they have a bunch of antique, old bottles that they want to use for the flowers. and while checking out yard sales this weekend, i got a box of canning jars... for free. i love it when you ask how much and they say "oh, that stuff over there is free."

for this example i tried to pick up flowers that are available at the grocery store year round, in lots of colors. so this arrangement could done in yellow, or green, or white or any color you wish. alstroemeria (the white flower) is a wonderful flower that comes in pinks, yellows, oranges, pretty much any color you could want, and they last forever. i bought these almost a week ago and they still look great. the carnations are long-lasting as well and come in tons of colors.

you want to use odd numbers of objects to make an arrangement. here i used 5 jars with flowers and 3 votives. they were left over from my wedding, so also FREE.

total so far for one bouquet and table arrangement:
-ribbon $1
-flowers @12
-votives and tea lights (free and $1)

=$14

not too shabby.

instructions:
1) get some small jars of various sizes. these were found at a yard sale (for free!). clean them if they are dirty.
2) starting with the largest container , fill it with one or both types of flowers. alstroemeria and carnations were used for this arrangement. to get them the right height, arrange the stems in your hand and then hold it up to the container. cut off the stems at the right spot (bottom of the jar).
3) place the flowers in the jars and fill with water, only covering the stem, and not the leaves. if there are leaves under the water line, tear them off.
3) fill each jar with flowers following the instructions in steps 2 and 3.
4) add 3 votives to the arrangement and light.

in day light

and at night (on my coffee table ;-)


oh and i have a better pic of the bouquet i made the other day.

bullseye

yesterday was such a great day, the weather was absolutely perfect so i searched through craigslist to find some yard sales in the area. i found lots of great stuff for myself, and the shop and for dave. he's been wanting a dart board and i found one that hasn't even been used for $5. i love it when that happens.

i also got this milk glass pitcher and antique ink holder. it is stunning. once i find out exactly what it's worth it'll be in the shop.

this table is also a craigslist find. it's amazing what you can find on that site.

diy wedding flowers

sorry for the blurry picture, i couldn't hold it still! i am doing the flowers for my brother-in-laws wedding and am very excited, but nervous. i bought some flowers from the grocery store to practice making a bouquet. i think it needs more green, i can use hosta from my yard once it blooms! it didn't take long at all to whip up, but i need to make sure it doesn't fall apart. i should carry one around all day and see how many strange looks i get...

a vintage purse

i found this awesome black leather bag at a thrift store for $2. you never know what you'll find...

happy easter

i love martha. i was home sick, while dave went to his grandma's for passover dinner, but at least i learned an awesome easter egg trick from the lovely martha stewart show.

i had been searching for "green" ways to dye eggs this year and only found ideas such as using beets or different colored fruits and veggies to soak them. i wanted something a little different and this was perfect. and just to keep you informed, you can skip important steps and they will still turn out. i thought i would just remember the recipe and, of course, i didn't. i forgot to add the vinegar so splashed some in at the end, and only boiled them for about 10 min. oh and i also put them in a metal pot. yeah, i'm awesome. i'm sure if you followed the directions, they would turn out even cooler. click on the title below for the directions.

silk-dyed easter eggs

i only could get up the nerve to cut up one silk scarf from my collection, even though i never, ever wear them, i like having them around. you can use any silk material you have laying around. i wish i still had this hideous silk shirt with a scene on it involving elephants or something weird like that. i wore it to my first day of high school. (what exactly was i thiking?)
anyway, cut squares to go around the egg and tie with a twist tie or rubber band.


then cover with a white cotton to keep the dye from leaking too much.

place in a glass or cermic bowl (a metal one worked, but i'd follow the instructions to be safe) and fill with water and some vinegar (which i forgot) and boil for 40 min. (i boiled for like 10 min and it worked).
as you can see it's pretty hard to mess up!
i used my paper shreader to make some "easter grass." just shread up some colored paper and you have a nice little easter display. and if you love this bowl (as you can see, i DO!) it's for sale in the brandeye etsy shop/


i hope everyone had a lovely easter and didn't spend the day cleaning up dog pee from a very bad dog (and no, it wasn't moz, he actually was the only good one out of the three!)

mystery flower

i have this flower in our garden that comes up every year and is the coolest thing i've ever seen!! it is the most amazing shade of purple and has the most unique pattern to it. anyone know what it is? the sad part is that it only lasts a few days. i should frame a picture of it so it lasts the entire year ;-)

one of my favorite meals

pasta with meatballs and sausage. heaven...

i am the luckiest to have a husband that kills it in the kitchen.

wissahickon creek

our walk through the woods.

things are finally budding!

a fallen tree.

and a tattooed tree.

striped rock.

silk and vintage linen pillow

i have a new pillow in the brandeye etsy shop. it was made with 100% silk and a repurposed linen table cloth. you can check it out here.

decisions, decisions...

moz hasn't been walking right ever since the day after my birthday party when we were playing with him and a balloon. he loves to jump and snap at them. the next day he didn't use his leg at all (the one that just had surgery last year) and so we were hoping he just sprained something. no such luck. he now has a luxating patella (knee cap that pops out) on the leg that JUST had surgery 6 months ago. it is the same surgery that he had on his other leg when he was one. he's not quite six and will need his third surgery. we are really torn (no pun intended) about what to do this time. the surgeon recommends surgery, of course, but he never really recovered fully the first time around and he already has arthritis in all legs. plus the risk of going under again scares me and another 2 months of recovery will be hellish. but he's only 5 and hopefully has at least that much time left and if we don't get the surgery it means only very short walks and no running, jumping and all of the things he loves to do. it is a hard decision. and we don't know what to do. and are hoping that his new thing will not be tearing something twice a year! but one thing is for sure, he is on a diet again. he gained 5 lbs in the last couple months. what a tub of love.
so does anyone have any advice about what you would do?