Alluring Artist - David Delamare

By Lisa VanWilliams

Mermaids, fairies, pirates, Alice In Wonderland, and circus freaks are just few of his specialties. David Delamare is an artist & writer from Oregon and he has an incredible imagination.  Delamare creates magical fairy tale scenes and they will leaving you wondering if they could be real. I've had one of his pictures hanging in my daughters room since she was a baby, and four years later, I still love it. I bet one of his fairy murals would look great in a garden oasis. He sells paintings, prints, cards, porcelain lights, tile murals, and several books and you can check out the online catalog here:
http://www.daviddelamare.com/catalog.html

You can also like him on Facebook to view these glorious pictures in your news feed here:
https://www.facebook.com/daviddelamareart  

Here are a few of our favorites:

Peanut Mix Pie Crust Clusters

By Lisa VanWilliams

Um yea. These just happened. A Million Dollar recipe provided by Beth Royals from Richmond, Va. She is the 47th Pillsbury Bake Off million dollar Grand Prize Winner for this yummy recipe. We tweaked it a little because I'm a chocolate girl, not vanilla. It's a great Valentines gift to let someone know your thinking about them and it does not cost that much to make. You could add your favorite nut, some peanut m&m's, or maybe even some coconut, and these will be a hit. Plus, made with love.

For the original vanilla chip recipe, please check out:

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/peanutty-pie-crust-clusters/ba989003-b1dc-4b27-9e9b-c93853f91285

I used one bag of Nestle Toll House chocolate chips, toffee bits, and salted mixed peanuts. Enjoy!

Crayon Hearts

By Lisa VanWilliams

This is a popular one I have been seeing moms making for a few years now and today was our first attempt. Valentines Pre-K party on Thursday! I spent a half hour this morning with my daughter peeling 4 years worth of crayons we have accumulated over the years at numerous restaurants, diners, and cheap crayons that come attached to the coloring books that break before you even get half way done. It's a great way to clean up the crayon basket and get rid of all the broken pieces. For roughly $7 we are giving her 16 classmates these cute Crayon Valentines Cards, plus they are fun and easy to make.

I got the silicone mold at Jo-Ann Fabric on sale for $6.59. If it's not on sale, it goes for $10.99 but you can always go to their website and print off the 50% off additional coupon. I picked up the Disney cards at the Dollar store, and I used some old Christmas ribbons to add some flair.

Try to use similar colors. That's hard for a two and a four year old to do, but once they are done with their 3 minute attention span, you can always go fix the color palette later.

Bake them in the oven at 250 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Until all the crayons are melted and the surface appears to look flat. Remove them and let them cool. I popped them in the freezer for a bit to eliminate the number of times I heard, "Are they ready yet?" "Can we take them out now?" "How bout now?" "Are they ready now?"

I glued them onto the valentines cards with UGlu Power Patch which in a non-toxic instant glue grip. I punched a hole on the card and added a red ribbon. Enjoy!

Strawberry Heart Snack

By Lisa VanWilliams

These strawberry hearts are a breeze to make and the kids will love them. My daughter is in love with red velvet muffins so we used two muffins crumbled up in a snack cup. Then you can layer them with whatever your kids might like: cool whip, pudding, bananas, etc. Top them off with these cute little hearts and you will look like a Superstar :)

Cut a triangle out to start

Cut off both sides to make a heart shape

Face berry with two points down and cut heart slices

Farm House Decorations

By Lisa VanWilliams

We love the look of farmhouse decor and we found a couple of cool sites to share with you and a few of our favorite items from each place.


Painted Fox
http://www.paintedfoxtreasures.com/pages/walls


The "Happy Life" sign above is $152.00 and can be found here:
http://www.paintedfoxtreasures.com/collections/signs/products/for-a-happy-life-36x36

$42.00 Farm House Wood Tray
http://www.paintedfoxtreasures.com/collections/farmhouse-trays-1/products/farmhouse-wood-tray

$49.00 Farmhouse Reproduction Milk Crate
http://www.paintedfoxtreasures.com/collections/farmhouse-details/products/farmhouse-reproduction-milk-crate

$59.00 Farmhouse Wood Heart Bowl
http://www.paintedfoxtreasures.com/collections/farmhouse-details/products/farmhouse-wood-heart-bowl



Antique Farmhouse
http://www.antiquefarmhouse.com/?gclid=CKzo2anRycMCFQ0bgQodnVwALw

$162.00 Beaded Chandelier
http://www.antiquefarmhouse.com/current-sale-events/rustic-decor/beaded-chandelier.html

$32.00 30 Minute Hour Glass
http://www.antiquefarmhouse.com/current-sale-events/glamour-french-decor/elegant-30-minute-hour-glass.html

$52.00 Bottle Crate Footstool

http://www.antiquefarmhouse.com/current-sale-events/industrial-decor-solutions/bottle-crate-footstool.html

Farmhouse Wares
http://www.farmhousewares.com/homedecor.aspx

$29.95 Large Grain Sack Tote
http://www.farmhousewares.com/largegrainsacktote.aspx

$96.95 Set of Five, Metal Boxes with Chalkboard Labels

http://www.farmhousewares.com/metalboxeswithchalkboardlabelssetoffive.aspx

$65.50 Vintage Style Cow Breeds
http://www.farmhousewares.com/vintagestylecowbreedspicture.aspx

$16.95 Happily Ever After Sign
http://www.farmhousewares.com/happilyeveraftersign.aspx

Artists Market

By Lisa VanWilliams

Artisan lovers and curious good seekers look no further, for here are some unique & crasftmanship inspired pieces. Whether you are looking for a gift or a certain piece that will make your house feel more like a home, they have lots of ideas and you can bring the artists market right to your finger tips. Scoutmob is my new favorite place to stalk online. This company is out of Atlanta, Ga and what they do is promote US and Canadian independent makers of hand-crafted goods. Woodworkers, leather workers, jewelry makers, artists, and other skilled trade crafters are all brought together on this site to promote these small businesses. Their purpose:

"It's our humble belief that by surrounding ourselves with theauthentic, the unique and the curious, our lives are more awesome."

These are a few of our favorite picks from their site and you can view more here:
http://scoutmob.com/

$32 Vintage Sailing Ceramic Necklace
http://scoutmob.com/p/Vintage-Sailing-Ceramic-Necklace?ref=cat_search_ship-ceramic&sort=search

$70 Wool Cable Knit Pillow
http://scoutmob.com/p/Wool-Cable-Knit-Pillow-Cover-precious?ref=cat_search_cable-knit-pillow-case&sort=search

$108 Vintage Lace Wood Art (made on reclaimed wood by wood-tattooing)
http://scoutmob.com/p/Vintage-Lace-Wood-Art-No-7-salvage-design?ref=cat_search_lace-wood&sort=search

$250 Rustic Upcycled Pallet Potting Table
http://scoutmob.com/p/Rustic-Upcycled-Pallet-Potting-Table?ref=cat_search_pallet-table&sort=search

$50 Walnut Magnetic Knife Rack
http://scoutmob.com/p/Walnut-Magnetic-Knife-Rack-diem?ref=cat_search_magnetic-knife&sort=search

$125 Dapper Brown Leather Guitar Strap
http://scoutmob.com/p/Dapper-Brown-leather-Guitar-strap?ref=cat_search_guitar-strap&sort=search

$20 Porcelain French Cheese Markers - set of 4
http://scoutmob.com/p/Porcelain-french-Cheese-Markers-Set-of-4?ref=cat_search_cheese-markers&sort=search

$42 Custom City & State Cutting Board (show your hometown pride)
http://scoutmob.com/p/Custom-Cutting-Board?ref=cat_search_custom-cutting-board&sort=search

$95 Classic Brown Leather Camera Strap
http://scoutmob.com/p/Classic-Brown-Leather-Camera-Strap?ref=cat_search_camera-strap&sort=search

$595 No. 29 Redford Leather Satchel
http://scoutmob.com/p/No-29-Redford-Leather-Satchel?ref=cat_mens_wallets-and-bags&sort=new





Source: http://scoutmob.com/