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Author: Elizabeth Smillie

Hello there! I'm Elizabeth. Welcome to my website and blog space. All the products in my little shop are hand crafted and stem from my desire to provide creative and high quality products that make people feel lovely. I believe the little moments of life matter, every day should be celebrated, and that the beauty all around us is a gift from the Creator to be enjoyed. I'm married to a wonderful guy who happens to be my greatest cheerleader and best friend, mama to three little ones and currently reside in the heartland of America.
just wanted to show you something

just wanted to show you something

One of the things I really enjoy about my Etsy shop is when my happy customers post a photo of how they’re using their purchase or leave a comment telling me how much they love it. It’s so lovely to know that I’ve been able to bless them!

A few weeks ago one of my customers posted something in her own Etsy shop, ZigZagArts, that she had made using the jar she bought.

Susie makes lovely drawings, and she has been featuring the vintage jar she purchased in a few of them.

They’re gorgeous Susie! I can’t wait to see what you are going to do with them next!

And, remember, there’s a giveaway going on here – scroll down the page and enter to win a CSN Stores gift card. :)

(the images are borrowed from ZigZagArts)

a giveaway!

a giveaway!

*giveaway now closed*

The second phase of our move is taking a bit longer than we anticipated, and as we are waiting I’ve been using some of the additional time to dream of possible “someday” crafting/office space – who knows, maybe if I think about it long enough I’ll be able to work it into our new floor plan? :)

There are so many options available for creative combinations of crafting storage/home office furniture right now, and CSN Stores has a wide and fairly priced selection of furniture and storage solutions, plus they offer free shipping on most of the items on their sites (sounds like my kind of web site!).

I’ve been thinking about some flat paper storage (this one has free shipping),
and also a drawer unit (one like this maybe? I can dream!).

Do you all remember the giveaway that I hostessed here for CSN Stores? Well, they’re offering another FREE $25 gift card code to one of my readers!

The giveaway guidelines are the same as last time:
-The giveaway is only open to my U.S. and Canadian readers since CSN Stores ships only to the US and Canada. International shipping charges may apply for Canadian addresses.
-You can have as many chances to win as you’d like (see below).
-Giveaway closes on Sunday, March 13 at midnight and the winner will be chosen randomly. I can’t enter since I’m hosting it. (bummer. but it that means you have a better chance!)
For Chance #1: Just be a follower of the blog. It is kind of the point of the giveaway in the first place :) Leave a comment letting me know that you follow along. If you’ve been reading in silence for a long time, this is your chance to finally say hi!
For Chance #2: Visit my shop and then come back and leave a comment telling me what your favorite item is – I love getting feedback. :)

For Chance #3 (and more): Share the news! Let others know about the giveaway by blogging and/or posting on your favorite social media. Let as many people know about as you can! Because we could all use a bit of free money, right? Each time you post about the
giveaway come back here and leave a comment for an additional entry. :)



I’ll announce the winner on the 15th and am looking forward to reading your comments!

a Valentine’s Tea

a Valentine’s Tea

A belated Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! I have been working on this post for several days, hoping to get it posted in time to celebrate Valentine’s Day with you, but life kept moving and babies kept needing mommy. Oh well – at least late is better than never. :)

Did you catch my brief mention that we are moving? This move is happening in two stages, the first stage of which is complete but now we are waiting on some paperwork and other details before the second stage can happen – so blogging here has moved a bit lower on the priority list!

As we were packing things up in the middle of January I realized that we probably wouldn’t be settled by Valentine’s Day – and that I really wanted to be able to celebrate Valentine’s this year!
The solution? Celebrate early. :)

Emma Grace and I invited my sister-in-law and her friend over for the day and then we (I) pulled out all the red and pink things that I could find (read, all the ones that hadn’t been packed yet). We had so much fun taking a break from moving to just decorate and enjoy the holiday. :)

We had strawberry scones, pumpkin bundt cake, lemon curd, sweetened cream cheese and my sister-in-law and her friend brought some cucumber tea sandwiches and a plate of baked ham sandwiches (Leah, if you still have the recipe could you email it to me? thanks!) that were really good.

I used this totorial to make a pom-pom garland. I loved making it (so fun and easy!), and love the actual garland even more! I’m thinking of maybe making more (in white perhaps?) to put in our master bedroom – or in the family room. :)

We had a wonderful time, and Emma Grace absolutely loved her first tea party.

I’m linking to a few of these blogs – can you believe that Spring is coming? They are posting some really darling decorating ideas!

sweethearts

sweethearts

(this garland was actually my husband’s idea – one day he saw me making a Hearts By the Yard garland for a customer and suggested that I make one all in red but with one white heart – my Sweetheart has the best ideas!)

I love February. It’s not my absolute favorite month, but I love it.

Partly because in California where I grew up, February was the start of Spring (now, in Indiana, Spring comes more toward the middle of April – still not used to that at all). The bulbs would bloom, the trees blossom, and you could start wearing t-shirts again – on some days.

But another reason that I love February is because it marks some important “firsts” for me: the first time John told me “I love you” (it was on the phone and I was so startled that I hung up on him – poor guy!), the first time John met my family, the birth of our first baby, and the day I opened my Etsy shop, to name a few. Plus it has Valentine’s Day in it. :)

I can hardly believe that the shop has been open for a year now! I’ve had 45 sales so far, and it’s been a wonderful year. Thank you all for joining me in it. You have all been so sweet and encouraging. :)

As a special thank you to all you darling readers, I’ve created a coupon code just for you to use during February. When you place an order just enter the code “1YEAR” to get 10% off of your order.

So, why do you love February? I love reading your comments!
Also, I’m linking this to a few of these fun blogs. You might love heading over and checking out some of their amazing Valentine’s Day ideas – and I’d love it if you would spread the word about the coupon code for the shop. :)

hello again

hello again

It’s been a few days! And what has happened in that space of time? Um, a lot.
But at the same time, not so much.

We’ve been adjusting to our move (did I mention that we are in the process of moving? no? oops).
And we’ve had a lot of snow and ice.
January came to an end (really? already? wow …).
And I’ve done a bit of thrift store shopping for the shop, started making a baby blanket (but can’t post the pics of it because the baby’s mommy reads this blog ;D) and been getting stretched a bit spiritually.
And kept being wife and mommy.

So yeah, a lot. But not much.


Emma’s Holiday/Winter Dress

Emma’s Holiday/Winter Dress


A while back Prudent Baby posted a darling tutorial for a long sleeved peasant style toddler dress. When I saw it I immediately thought of the red polka dot material that I had bought on a whim (and cuz it was on sale) a few weeks earlier. I knew that, even though she already had several cute dresses, Emma had to have a polka dot one.

This pattern is really easy and so cute! Each time Emma has worn it she has gotten more comments than for anything else she has ever worn (of course, that might have something to do with the curly little red pig tails, too). It’s one of my favorites now, and I have plans to make a bunch more – in other fabrics, of course!
I’m linking this to a few of these fun and crafty blogs. :)
my darling and her new hat

my darling and her new hat

Emma Grace has a new hat. And she like wearing it – because it’s pretty and she looks so pretty when she’s wearing it. :) (so nice not to be having battles about wearing a hat anymore!)

Really, she loves it (although that’s hard to tell from this picture)!

I made the hat using the Petite Beret pattern from Vintage Knits for Modern Babies. It was a very easy pattern to work (although I still need to learn how to make an invisible seam when I’m finishing – maybe you could teach me Leah?) and the sizing was quite accurate.

I used a bit of super soft bamboo yarn for the hat band – so it would be soft and cozy against her face – and then cotton yarn that I re-purposed from a sweater that I wasn’t wearing anymore for the rest of the hat.  My mom had given me a small hank of red wool tapestry yarn last fall, and I used that for the trim.

running in the park :)

The hat took about a week’s worth of free time to make up, and I’m so glad that she has it to wear with her little coat now. She’s such a little darling. <3

I’m linking this to some of these blogs – they have some really wonderful organizing and Valentine’s ideas up!
just a little something

just a little something

I just listed a new garland in the Etsy shop – the Hearts By The Yard garland. <3

It’s $8 and super sweet:

“A lighthearted and romantic decoration for any time of year, this garland is made of paper hearts sewn together and would be lovely accenting a wedding, party, bedroom or nursery!

Made using paper hearts cut from vintage book pages and white cardstock, the garland is stitched together with white thread into a piece of bunting that is over 8 feet long.

There are loops of cream ribbon sewn into the ends to use for easy hanging.”

handmade Christmas, part III

handmade Christmas, part III

I made several jars of Lemon Curd to go with the tea towels that I gave as gifts this Christmas, and they were a huge hit!

Lemon Curd – makes about 1 quart

6 lemons
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
6 eggs, beaten

Zest 2 of the lemons.
Juice the lemons to get 18 Tbsp juice.
Combine the zest with sugar, lemon juice, butter and eggs in the top of a double boiler over medium heat.
Stir frequently until thick, about 20 minutes.
Pour into jars, cool and refrigerate.

This is a family favorite (my grandma used to make it every year for her church’s Christmas tea) and is delicious on scones, toast, waffles, pancakes, crepes … pretty much anything!

I’m posting a link to this on some of these blogs. :)