Monday, January 31, 2011

Made by You Monday!

This week I am participating in Skip to my Lou's, Made by you Mondays.




What I'm going to share with you are two paintings I've done.  I am not a seasoned painter by any means, but I love art.  I love being surrounded by art with vibrant color that projects positive energy to the people in the room.  I'm not saying this in some new-agey kind of way, but I do think we affected by the color in a room--don't you?

One of the first paintings I did I actually saw in a magazine & wanted to try to re-create something similar for our home.  Here's what I ended up with:




I have loved it & loved it.  It took a long time, but almost no talent or money.  So, this made me more brave enough to paint a few more things.  One I have enjoyed was a simple peacock feather:




If I can make a painting I'd be willing to hang on my wall, then there is no reason for all of you not to make some attempts of your own!!  Please do & come back to share pics with us!  Just email us at:


xoxoxo

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Life in 1,082 Sq Ft: Office Space Episode 2


So, I've been doing some thinking, research and pondering of your comments.
I feel very inspired by the closet office from Kim Davis of Oh, Sweet Joy!


Isn't it lovely?  It was also suggested by my friend Rachel that a closet space is away from the kiddos, so I could leave the projects I'm working on right where they are & they won't be disturbed.  

I am also inspired by the bright, cheeriness of Honey We're Home's office space:


And love the patterns & colors of this office from Jones Design Company:


Of course, this is going to be happening all in my very tiny closet.  So, I'm just gathering inspiration.  So, here are some offices actually in small closets:

Country Living
Unplggd
Apartment Therapy


I Heart Organizing


Kelly Giesen


Lowes Creative Ideas



I have 2 end tables similar to these:





So, I am planning to start with these in each corner.  Cricut supplies on one, sewing machine on the other.  Plenty of room for a chair in the middle.  More to come...




Monday, January 17, 2011

Another CSN Giveaway!

We have a winner!!


#3 Aubrey Charlebois!!!  


Woo Hoo!!


You will be getting an email from me soon with your gift code for $35!!!


Thanks to everyone who entered!!
xoxox


--------------------------------------------------
GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.


CSN Stores has given us another opportunity to offer our readers a giveaway!  Woo hoo!






Let me tell you a little bit about them.  CSN has a ton of online stores with everything you could imagine.    To just name a few: they have diaper bag stores, pet boutique stores, luggage stores, chandelier stores, and cookware stores!  They have over 200!   I encourage you to check out their full list of online stores here.






GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.

Once again, they are offering a $35 gift code good toward any of their CSN shops.  Here's how you can enter to win:

Mandatory:  

FOLLOW Creative Outpour via Google Friend Connect - Make sure you leave a comment saying you did : )

Additional entries:

1) Follow Creative Outpour on Facebook here

2)  Tweet about our giveaway.  Make sure to @creativeoutpour

3)  Post about our giveaway on your blog.  Make sure to include the link in your comment.

4)  Mention our giveaway in your Facebook status

We will choose a winner on Sunday night!!  Yay for free stuff!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

French Macarons

Serious Eats
Charmed Events Planning

Marie's Maison


The Grocer

French Macarons.  They're kind of a big deal.  I kept seeing them in magazines & websites displayed at fancy showers & parties.  That got me curious about them, so I looked for them locally & realized, I can't buy them anywhere around here.  So, I looked online & found they were sold for around $2 a cookie!!!  Holy moly, these must be something.

Rather than pay the $2 each, I decided to make my own.  I found an easy recipe at:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/09/making-french-macarons/

And here's what I ended up with:




Definitely not a pros work, but they were yummy!  I don't know if they're quite worth $2 a cookie, but maybe if I tried one made by someone who knew what they were doing?

Monday, January 10, 2011

Life in 1,082 Sq Ft: Office Space

Confession #1

My house is 1,082 square ft.  We are in the process of selling it, but I'm pretty sure that won't happen before baby #2 gets here in April

Confession #2

I'm about to freak out for lack of space!!

All that to say, this is the beginning of a group of posts entitled:



My first project will be adding function & reducing clutter in my living room.  Here is the before:




We need to add a little function for me & my husband.  We have a little make-shift office for my husband in the corner, but it's crowded.  I also have no where in the house for my sewing machine, Cricut, printer etc.  I have some ideas, but would love to hear yours as well.  One thought I had was getting two 4ft Lifetime tables & run them against the back wall to create one long desk...Thoughts?!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Baby Shower Fun...

Recently, (as in back in October) I co-hosted a baby shower for one of my very best friends to welcome her baby boy Hudson.  I racked my brain trying to come up with ideas and finally came up with a country chic theme... featuring sunflowers.  Pictured below are some of the pictures of what I came up with:















Let just say that I LOVE the circuit!! That's how I made all the sunflower cutouts. It all turned out pretty great if you ask me!! Message me if you have any comments!!