I am my kids are really excited for school to start, so we decided to make a count-down to the first day of school. I wanted it to be more than a chain, so I came up with a back-to-school banner with a quote behind each letter. Quotes that fit what I felt my kids need to hear before starting in a new grade at a new school. Each day we'll turn a letter over and read the quote on the inside, and be one day closer to backpacks and recess!

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We are excited to introduce you to a great company today! Heal My Sole has handcrafted, all natural products made from really good ingredients where nothing harmful is used. No parabens, petroleum or filler ingredients.

 
It all began with foot scrub...after moving from South Florida to the drier north air, Mary needed a good foot scrub to exfoliate and moisturize. She wasn’t finding any in local stores and set out to make her own. She started selling the foot scrub to friends who then requested lotion and from there more products were included and as they say the rest is history.

The foot scrub contains dead sea salt (for drying skin and aching muscles) pumice for exfoliating along with shea butter, Grapeseed oil and Sweet Almond Oil which are very moisturizing. Your feet will feel soft and refreshed. Foot scrub is available in Peppermint and Citrus in a generous 16oz jar. For $15


If you're part of the many summer weddings that take place they offer a great gift for all the woman on your list. New this year is the Bridal Bucket. An assortment of our mini’s – a lotion, oil, foot scrub and a full size lip balm all wrapped in bridal netting topped off with a handcrafted flower in complimenting the colors of your party or event. What a sweet thought for your out of town guests, bridesmaids or other any other thank you gift you need. If you order 10 or more they are $17 each!

Talk about fun, have you ever tried a massage candle? Oh – light the candle, soon you’ll smell the wonderful aroma of lavender, grapefruit and a touch of eucalyptus and then the fun part. After its formed a puddle, drizzle on your partners back for an ultimate massage. The oils and butters will absorb into your skin. No partner? Not to worry, light before entering the shower, when you’re finished the candle will be waiting for you to rub into your dry skin. A tin of fun for $15

 
Lip balm is a moisturizing combination of Grapeseed oil, beeswax, and aloe and cocoa butter for the softest lips. Beeswax does a great job protecting your lips from the outside elements. No petroleum here or sweeteners to temp you to lick your lips. You can’t beat the $2 price on these.

Today, Heal My Sole is offering one of our readers the chance to win a $25 credit to the store! All you have to do to enter is visit Heal My Sole and find your favorite items. Then come back and tell us what you would buy if you were the winner. But that's not all! Heal My Sole is also offering a special discount to our readers! Enter code Birdie10 at checkout to receive 10% off any order over $10 until 8/31/11. So hurry on over! This giveaway will end on Tuesday, August 9th at 11:59 pm PT.

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You may remember my photo frame dry-erase menu board that I was using for my weekly menu back in Seattle. Well, since my menu board didn't make the trip to Iowa (don't worry, it's in storage!), I had to find a new menu board idea. Otherwise I forget what I planned for dinner that week--seriously. I was inspired by the Notes plate over at Wonderfully Wordy at Christmastime (she has GREAT ideas, and you can buy the cut vinyl from her, but her shop is closed for the summer). I pinned it to my Crafty Ideas board on Pintrest and came across it again the other day. LOVE Pintrest! This cute dry-erase board costs less than $5 to make, and is great for menus, to-do lists, or just love notes to your sweetie! Here's how you can make a dry-erase board out of a plate, too.

Dry-Erase Menu Plate Tutorial

Supplies:
*Plate - I like square so it's easier to write on (found this at Walmart for $4ish)
*Vinyl words (I cut mine on my Silhouette machine)
*Plate stand (I found mine at Hobby Lobby)
*Dry-erase marker

Cut your words and any embellishments out of vinyl. I used the Pharmacy font. Carefully adhere it to your plate. I say carefully because it's awfully easy to put it on crooked (please try not to notice--I'm going to fix it tomorrow)!

Now you can write your weekly menu on it and simply erase it with a paper towel next week. And it sure ups the cute factor in the kitchen!

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Hellooooo! Yes, I'm still alive. And wow, what a journey. After 7 days, 2800 miles, 7 states, 4 national parks, 5 hotels, 100 hours of whining kids, and about $75,000 in gas, we finally made it to Iowa City! Woo hoo!

I am in love with this place already. It is so green, the sun is always shining, and the people are so friendly! We are just two houses from the elementary school, 2 blocks from the University hospital (where my husband works), and 2 miles from the mall and HOBBY LOBBY! Yippee! 

I love our house and am almost finished setting up my craft room. Here's a peak at my shelves that hold most of the stuff I was able to bring. 

I can't believe my whole craft room has been reduced to this lone shelf! It is forcing me to think outside the box and get pretty creative with what I have.

Can you believe I selected only this much paper from a whole closet full of it?

I love looking at all my fabric stacked up, ready for projects!

I had to display this card next to my ribbon stash:


And it's true! The dear friend that came to help me pack up my craft room helped me go from four large hangers full of ribbon spools (like this) and two large ribbon boxes, to this:

About 1/64th of my total ribbon collection  and two jars of buttons made the journey.

I'm actually amazed at how much I was able to cram in there thanks to her!

And here's the view from my crafting table--inspiring, right?

Now that I'm back on a normal schedule and into my second trimester (no more exhaustion and crafting aversion!), I am back on the crafting saddle. Soon I'll find out if I'll be making girlie headbands or more pee-pee teepees!

Until then, I already have several projects in the works, including a sweet quilting pattern that I'm putting together for Riley Blake Designs using their new line Sew Cherry by Lori Holt:
And new bedspreads for my boys using Sarah Jane's new line Children At Play by Michael Miller Fabrics:

Not to mention some fun papercrafting and back-to-school projects:


Anyway, I promise some fun tutorials soon! Thanks again for your patience and all your kind words of encouragement. It was so fun to read the survey responses and know that so many of you out there are still rooting for us! We hope you'll like some of the changes you'll see in the near future.

Speaking of our survey, thank you for helping us celebrate our 3rd birthday by entering our survey giveaway! There were over 500 of you that responded, but we only have one lucky winner. That winner will receive a box stuffed full of goodies from my craft closet and from our sponsors, including some finished projects I just couldn't take with me to Iowa! Okay, I've strung you along long enough. The winner of the Little Birdie Secrets Birthday Bash Giveaway is. . .



Congratulations!! We've already e-mailed you, Meghan, to let you know you're our winner, so reply asap and we'll get your prize on it's way! Thanks for entering, everyone else!

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