I "do" social media

and apparently I am not alone! Love the facts shared in this infographic about Social Media and my hometown, Cincinnati.

My early introduction to LinkedIn and then Twitter were a godsend. I was an early adopter of both channels and they have led me to incredible opportunities. I am now solidly established as a social media consultant and I love my job! Along with the two mentioned, I sincerely embrace Facebook for business, Pinterest and email marketing. When all of these channels are properly connected and maintained with an influx of great content, it is a winning combination.

Go Cincinnati!

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Monday Meal Plan:: June 25

By planning out the week's menu I can accomplish several things: we will eat better, I will have a menu in mind and I have something to share on this here blog!

Monday: Poppy Seed Chicken (in the oven right now) along with steamed broccoli

 {source}

Tuesday:  Frozen pizzas with side salads and/or veggies for dipping (Work Day + late afternoon orthodontist appointment)
Wednesday:  Kraft Sizzling Salads Asian Kit. I bought this on sale at the grocery. I think I will marinate Salmon instead of chicken since we will have had chicken on Monday and Dave has become a big salmon fan recently. I think this is a great idea: marinate and dressing packaged together and the portion is not huge.
Thursday: girls night in or out...Dave golfs so we will likely have something simple at home
Friday: Dinner with friends at our favorite Mexican restaurant (woot!)

On Saturday night I made this Butterfinger Grape Salad. I know it is an odd combo of things and it doesn't really photograph well but trust me it is outstanding! My friend Kim has been making this for about a year and I finally tried it myself and took it to a potluck where it was a hit.

It has been an extremely hot here and while my pooch is not a fan of plain ice cubes, he does love treats. LOVES them. So, inspired by this idea, I mixed equal portions of water and beef broth together and filled muffin tins. The girls broke up a few soft dog treats and put those inside too. Skipper gobbled his first two right up. Bonus, it kept him busier longer than 15 seconds. We are going to try this in a jello mold and than drive a stake in the ground to hold it in place while he works on it. Seems like it could be a good, lengthy distraction for when we have guests over...otherwise he non stop begs for people to throw a ball to him.

And in unrelated news, CatScrap has closed and {Scrapflower} has bloomed beautifully in it's place. I am supporting the site by providing content via Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Join in! Great freebies available this week.

Find other meal planners ::HERE::. 

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InstaFriday

Hmm. Not been blogging much. Not much at all. Trying to find a rhythm in the chaos that allows me a manageable balance of being a mom + employee. Especially now with the kids at home. I am making it all work. Not effortlessly but we are all surviving.

So how about I share some phone snaps in an effort to resuscitate this blog?




Pre Recital



Post Recital




Traveling to the lake for a few days. Mason came in our car for the last hour.




The lake bath. Classy.



Go Fish at the lake house.




Marina view from the lake house



Loads of laughter




Driving the boat




And this very frightening find in the camera roll.

Linked up at LifeRearranged. 


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Framed photo canvas

I will work backward on this one.




My good friend Carla took gorgeous photos of us in the fall. This canvas is a result of that photo shoot. It is 16x20 which I thought would be plenty big enough over my couch. It was not. So...I began a search for a large frame to...frame it.


My community had their yard/garage sale days about two weeks ago. My first several stops were fruitless and I almost quit. Until I saw this big guy priced at $2. The owner promptly offered it to me for $1. Sold!



 Typically I do not get right to work on my projects but on this one I did. That same afternoon I dismantled the whole thing until I was left with this, just ornate enough, frame. I spray painted it in a nickel finish and Dave hung it last weekend. Go me!

My overall inspiration came from this find on Pinterest.

(source)

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DIY: artwork to celebrate First Communion

Let's start at the beginning. With a "pin"...

 (source)

I just clicked all the way through to the source and see that this beauty goes for about $335. Whoa!!

I really did not research any instructions on how to accomplish this look. I began by purchasing a 14x14 canvas on sale at JoAnns for roughly $8.

Next, I searched through my scrapbooking stash of chipboard letters. You could also purchase wood letters which might give you a bit more depth. Because I knew I'd be painting over the whole canvas in white, I did not concern myself with the colors of the chipboard letters. I also wanted to make do with what I had on hand, so there is a bit of variety in the fonts. Here it is in progress.

Next I did 4-6 coats of white craft paint on only the letters paying attention to cover all the grooves of the letters. Finally, I painted 2-3 coats over the whole canvas (with help from my eager children). This canvas was created to be the centerpiece above a dessert table celebrating Shelby's First Communion.

Which you can barely read here. Click to view larger. Or take a look at the photo below.

In all, I spent less than $10 because I had all the material except the canvas. I plan to hang this in Shelby's room now that the party is over. I think this would make a great gift and am inclined to make more.

Thanks for reading.





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