We visited my friend Robin in Santa Fe this week.  She and her husband have been working on their house for years and their latest endeavor is a walled-in garden.

Robin collected wildflower seeds last fall and planted them.  Aren’t these flowers amazing?

A cross made with dried cactus that they found.

A touch of red near the front door.

The view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from their front yard is breathtaking.  

Check out the posts at Hooked on Houses: Hooked on Fridays and Fifi Flowers’ Fashionable Fridays.  Enjoy your day.

Thanks to Hooked on Houses for hosting Hooked on Fridays and Fifi Flowers for hosting Fashionable Fridays.

After our great time at the horse ranch, I’ve had horse-inspired objects on the brain. Join me for some window shopping…  

From modern designer Jonathan Adler:

Gorgeous Ralph Lauren accessories:

I love these primitive horse art paintings.  They are very reasonably priced (click the picture to check out the artist’s site).

Wouldn’t this horse look great above a cabinet or sitting on top of an armoire?

Cowgirl boots can be expensive, but they are so comfortable.  I think they can also add a lot of style to a boring outfit of jeans and a t-shirt.

Have a great Friday!

Thanks to Hooked on Houses for hosting Hooked on Fridays and Fifi Flowers for hosting Fashionable Fridays.

We had the most wonderful day taking advantage of some community activities.  In the morning we went to a free story time and tea party at the Balloon Museum.  Then we were able to wander through the museum and enjoy the interactive exhibits.  Since we often see balloons out of our living room window, Miss Petrie has a special affinity for the sport.

Friends in a gondola.

Miss Petrie asked if these men were pirates.

The view from the Balloon Museum is spectacular.

 In the afternoon we went to a community pool.  This pool was especially wonderful for families with small children because it started at zero inches and increased to 4 feet 6 inches.  

More views of the Sandia Mountains.

We have continuously found exciting, interesting activities to do around Albuquerque.  I think there is nothing better than enjoying where we live!

Thanks to Hooked on Houses for hosting Hooked on Fridays and Fifi Flowers for hosting Fashionable Fridays.

A few months after Miss Petrie was born, I had calling cards made so if we met potential friends, I’d be ready to give them our information.  I ended up using these cards quite a bit and we made friends with many of the moms and babies I traded infomation with.  

I’ve finally run out of the Moo mini cards I bought over three years ago and I’m looking for a new card design.  I like these:

I have sheets of address labels.  I thought they could be mini calling cards.  I printed up my information.  I adhered the address labels to card stock and cut around the labels.

I have a wonderful Stampin’ Up! set of frame stamps.  This elegant design is part of that set.  I used blue ink and embossed the image with a clear glaze.

I made a set of calling cards for a friend’s daughter’s high school graduation.  These make an unusual, personalized gift and they are simple and inexpensive to create.

Have a wonderful weekend!  

Thanks to Hooked on Houses for hosting Hooked on Fridays and Fifi Flowers for hosting Fashionable Fridays.

I got home from running errands one afternoon this week and there was a box waiting on my doorstep.  Woo hoo!!  My mom sent me a care package.  

This ritual started when I went away to college at 17.  Roughly once a month I’d get a package from my parents.  The content would vary from food to clothes to personal goods.  All of it was appreciated.  My roommates would gather around when someone got a package and if there was food, we’d all partake.  

Little Miss Petrie enjoyed this package.  She got a beautifully illustrated book on birds and a pile of clothes.

Lots of Small Paul gear- very hip and comfortable.

I LOVE this purse!!  It’s roomy, thoughtfully laid out and turquoise, one of my favorite colors.

These sandals are so me- bohemian and comfy.

Mom, thanks for helping me be a little hipper with these great accessories!  

Have fun reading all the other gorgeous posts!

Thanks to Hooked on Houses for hosting Hooked on Fridays and Fifi Flowers for hosting Fashionable Fridays.

I have been working on Mother’s Day gifts for the women in our family.  This year I made handmade cards for everyone.

I also wanted to make something little and sparkly.  My inspiration for these gifts was buttons!

Hobby Lobby had a sale on metal jewelry and hair accesories.  That sealed the deal! I made everyone earrings or hair clips.

Some of the buttons had a loop in back.  Mr. Petrie cut off the loop and filed the button back flat.

I used my trusty glue gun to adhere the buttons to the earrings and hair clips. A Stampin’ Up! frame stamp creates a border for the earrings and hair clips.

These sparkly gems enhance the hair clips.

I also made some hair accessories for little girls we know.  I think these will make adorable birthday gifts.

Enjoy all the fabulous blog posts today!  Have a productive weekend.

Thanks to Hooked on Houses for hosting Hooked on Fridays and Fifi Flowers for hosting Fashionable Fridays.

(And when you are finished reading, leave a comment on my giveaway post!  Click here.)

My friends and I are throwing a shower for our friend who is expecting a baby girl. I had made two gifts for the guest goodie bags and my friend Amy offered to make bracelets for the gift bags.  As I am never one to miss a crafting opportunity, I happily accepted her generous offer!  We made bracelets for all of the women with their childrens’ names and used the kids’ birth stones.  I had never done this before and it was so fun and a great skill to learn.  

The recipient can add a picture to the circular charm.

A double strand bracelet

Each gift bag contained a bird, soap, and a bracelet.

I used iridescent grass as a base for the swag, put the gifts in a plastic gift bag, and tied each bag with the same ribbon used on the baby shower invitations.

Need party gift and invitation ideas?  Check out these posts:

Homemade Baby Shower Invitations

Beautifying Gift Bags

A Bird Inspired Housewarming Gift 

Enjoy the great blog parties and have a wonderful Friday!

Thanks to Hooked on Houses for hosting Hooked on Fridays and Fifi Flowers for hosting Fashionable Friday.

Dust covers are such a great source of art, so I came up with a couple of projects to recycle these covers.  

How could I get rid of this awesome art?

We love Ian Falconer’s Olivia books.  One of Miss Petrie’s friends is such a little Olivia!  I made some presents for her upcoming birthday.

I hot-glued this book cover to a flat canvas.  The back of the dust cover had the drum image, which I cut out and glued on.  I personalized the middle of the drum with our little friend’s name.  Ribbon was used to frame the picture.  I added a clothespin to the top of the flat canvas (covered in ribbon to make it coordinate).  The pin could hold a picture or a note.

The side flaps of the cover had some great images I could add on to this project.  I used my tag maker to give these small images a finished and more substantial look.

"What is Olivia working on now?"

While I had the hot glue gun at the ready, along with some bright, fun ribbon, I decided to gussy up some alligator clips and wooden clothespins.

A bag of these alligator clips is very inexpensive.

A few cents worth of ribbon and these clips look like a million bucks!

Wooden Clothespins

What are your ideas for using cool looking dust covers?  They abound at Casa Petrie and I’m sure you crafty folks have probably made or seen cool uses for them.  

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the other blog party participants!

Thanks to Hooked on Houses for hosting Hooked on Fridays and Fifi Flowers for hosting Fashionable Fridays.

At Casa Petrie, we love books.  Seriously, I’d rather eat beans for three days in a row and buy an awesome book I’ve been waiting for.  I believe in decorating a la Jackie O. with LOTS of books everywhere.  But not just any books.  Our library is filled with the classics.

A picture from Jackie O.’s NYC apartment:

My husband and I met at St. John’s College.  It is a Great Books of the Western World program and all the texts are original and sometimes in the original language.  Having the classics lining the shelves of my home gives me a sense of comfort and history.  

One wall of the Casa Petrie library.

When I look at my copy of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, I think of my senior year, when I realized I was in love…with math.  I decided I wanted to be a math teacher.

Mmm...Non-Euclidian Geometry is SO good!

Looking at these beautiful, green Loeb books, which have English on the right and Greek on the left, I think of translating Homer in freshman Greek or The Book of John in sophomore Greek.  I remember realizing I could garner more information from the original language, even if it did take me hours to translate.

Isn't that green heavenly?

Of course, when I need to ground an idea in books I know and love, I head for the classics.  But when I need to immerse myself in magic, romance, and excitement I head for paranormal romance, particularly vampire stories.  If you are having Twilight withdrawal, head for these authors.  I’m slightly embarrassed to admit my love of vampire fiction, but we’re all friends here, right?

These have been some of my favorite vampire series.  Like the Twilight books, these series have a philosophical bent that make them more inspiring than other campy vampire fiction.    

Lynn Viehl’s Darkyn Series

Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Series

J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood Series

If you haven’t read these books, you are in for a treat!!  Have a bloody good weekend.

Thanks to Fifi Flowers for hosting Fashionable Friday!

I’ve been wanting to try Mod Podge for a while.  I received some tins for Christmas that I wanted to repurpose and I thought this would be a good time to try out decoupage.  My good friend is having a boy, so with this in mind, I made her some gift containers.

Three tins covered with bug paper- now I just have to figure out what kind of baby gift to fill them with.

I covered the tin lids with a piece of paper that didn’t cover the edge of the lid.  I wasn’t super crazy about the unfinished look of the lids.

Tin lid covered with ants

Well, the Mod Podge didn’t work so well on the lids.  Mr. Petrie asked me if the paper was supposed to look like it was coming off.  ”Uh, no,” I replied.  I lifted the edge of the paper and it came right off.  So, out with the Podge and in with the glue gun.  I also came up with a slightly different look for the lids.

I used chocolate colored ribbon, a light green circle sticker and cut the bugs out of the original lid paper.

The new and improved lid decor

All three lids

I also decoupaged an Altoids tin.  I’m not sure what I’ll use it for, but it would be a cute gift box for jewelry.  I think a gift card might be too big.

The top of the Altoids tin

The bottom of the tin

Inside the tin

I love the paper I used for the Altoids tin.  My mom and I did some crafting with it a couple of weeks ago.

I have a small cylindrical tin I covered with the awesome floral paper, but I need to finish it off with some black ribbon and the glue gun.  I’ll show it off when I make it gorgeous!

Now that I know how to use Mod Podge, I’m pretty sure I’ll be covering every usable container that comes into Casa Petrie.  If you have Mod Podge experience, feel free to comment with advice.