specimens & curious findings

I am planning a very special Halloween dinner for later this month. All my guests are flying in from out of town so I wanted the invitations to be extra special.  The theme of the party is Specimens & Curious Findings. I added in a little "specimen" gummy snake to each invitation box. Ben and I are working out the menu.

The decorating is under way.

I finally got to bring out Lily and Oscar, the art dolls I made special for the mantel decor this year.

I thought it would be fun to share the invites with everyone.  I also created place cards to use at the dinner party. Scribble your guests names on them in scratchy script and they will look great. You can click the download button under the images to download.

The poem is an excerpt from Shakespeare's Macbeth. The bottom is in Latin and reads: 

The one safety for the vanquished is to abandon hope of safety.

I hope you enjoy! If you use them, please tag me in your twitter or Instagram photos! I'd love to see what you do.

Download these printables here.

woosh!

click here to download 

Well folks, say hello to the end of the year. Because you know that once Halloween is over the year flies by at astonishing speed.  It's just the way it's always been. There is nothing you can do to change it. Believe me. I've tried.

The best thing to do is just give in and embrace the madness.

I  made a free wallpaper for you to download to help you ease into November.

well here we are again

Oh for heaven's sakes where has the time gone?

Here's the dealio.  I can't keep up. And I don't want to. And I don't have to, because I have been smart enough not to commit to having sponsors. Sometimes to do something right. Like every 10 years or so.

Summer is just too, hummm, (busy? no. scheduled? no. hot? no, not in Carlsbad.) lazy. Summer is too lazy to blog. 

I could give a bunch of lame excuses like we are getting all new flooring and traveling for almost four weeks and I'm focusing on sticking to my workouts.  All these things would be true, but really, I just need to slow down a bit.

I think I will give myself permisson to take a Summer break. Not that I won't be around. If I have a stroke of genius you know I'll be posting it all over the internet. But if I don't, and I want to go to the pool, then I won't be here.

Until after Labor Day.

BUT, you can still connect with me on Instagram. You can find me under Secondsister. I love The Gram! Do you have the app on your phone? It's available for iPhone and Droid.  Get it. You won't be sorry. 

And I leave you with a gift. Because that's how I roll.  

A little gift, to make life with your kids this Summer just a wee bit more organized. 

These job charts are 12X16 inches. I had mine printed out and laminated at Kinkos. It cost me $8.  I laminated so we could use dry erase markers instead of printing a new chart each week. But you could do that too. Whatever! It's Summer! No worries!

My boy earns extra money around the house by doing extra chores. I made these tickets so we can keep track of how many extra chores he has done. Heaven forbid we forget. He has important things to save up for, like gum and legos.

Silly boy. Happy Summer!

I'm going to be sending out my freebies through my email list from now on. Sign up and you can download the charts and tickets and get those kids of yours doing their chores!

free download! sketchy digital frames

Happy Monday!

I have a free digital download for you today. I drew some funky little frames for you to add to your photos.  They are fun to use for photos on your blog, in digital scrapbooking and to make cards and wall art.

You can download the PNG file here:

Sketchy Digital Frames  Download PNG

Or- because I know you aren't all photoshop junkies like myself, and you'd rather just print them out, you can download the JPEG here:

Sketchy Digital Frames Download JPEG

Show me how you use these frames!

Please note: Not to sound all grumpy and such, but please, pretty please, only use this download for personal projects. If you would like to purchase a commercial license for this art, email me.

hippies like granola

My dad is a hippie. He doesn't think he is a hippie. And to be fair he isn't your everyday run of the mill hippie.  He is a very special esoteric kind of geek/hippie.

He works full time as an aerospace engineer.  He loves rockets.  He wears Kirkland jeans and plaid button down bar-be-que type shirts.  He also wears socks with sandals. A-hem. That's something I'm hoping to work on with him.

He's never had long hair and he only grew his beard out once that I can remember.  During his short beard phase, he took to wearing a  plaid scally cap which made him look like the Scot that he is and nothing at all like a hippie.

But he is a hippie.

He is a peace lover. He is physically incapable of yelling. His voice just doesn't get very loud.  I often wonder what would happen in an emergency if he had to call for help.

But the real hippie part of my dad is that he loves to get out and commune with nature.  In fact, he plans his life around his outdoor trips.  He wanders around and takes photos of his hands on rocks or birds in flight.  He stares off into the horizon at sunset. I'm pretty sure he prays a lot while he's out there communing and stuff.

He's the type of person that could walk into the woods tomorrow and live as a hermit.  He might need his iPhone and his computer to edit his photos, but running water and electricity he could live without.

My dad is a hippie and he loves granola. So I made him some very special and ridiculously delicious granola for father's day. I also made a label for my jar.

I thought I'd share the recipe and my free printable label. You know, in case your dad's a hippie too.

I got this recipe off All Recipe's website. It is the best one I have found.

Megan's Granola

Ingredients

• 8 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups wheat germ
• 1 1/2 cups oat bran
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups raisins or sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.
2. Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries before storing in an airtight container.

You can change up the recipe to suit your own tastes.  My dad loves coconut so I replaced the cranberries with two cups coconut.  Some people left comments on the site saying they added chocolate chips.  I also made a batch using dried cherries instead of cranberries.

Here is the label.  Print it out full size on sticker paper.  It fits a large half gallon jar.

the thing about december

December is a funny month.  When you are a kid, it lasts forever. When you are a adult it is gone in the blink of an eye. It sneaks up on you like a cat that brushes your leg. Before you can look down to see what happened it is already gone. Just a tail disappearing behind a door.

December is quiet snowfall and hustle and bustle and honking horns.  It is kind words and merry gifts and dead lines and stress. It is a time to enjoy your friends and family and yet it reminds you of those you have lost.

It is the best of times. It is the worst of times.

This is how it goes.

I hope your holiday season isn't too stressful. I hope you aren't lonely.  I hope you find time to be still and reflect.

Here are some simple gift tags you can print off if need them.  If it saves you a trip to the store then I'm a happy girl.

They look best on white card stock. And you know, a little glitter makes everything fabulous.

sweet nothings

You know, Thanksgiving is really all about the details.  It's the little things you do that make your guests feel special.  Sure they might remember how delicious the stuffing was, but mostly, people remember events by the emotions attached to them.

I love place cards.  They let your guest know that you were thinking about them and planning for their visit.  They also get rid of last minute confusion as to where everyone will sit.

I created some place card printables and made them candy wrappers to sweeten the deal.  One is for a large candy bar the other for a smaller one.

The smaller wrapper doesn't have a designated place to write your guests name so it can also be used as a little gift or hand out.

Click on the graphic and print it out full size.