Thank you Very Much!!

This is a super exciting week for me. I was approached by two different but wonderful people , about being featured in their blogs " what a honor!" :). To be quite honest, I think that is a great idea . I have been inspired and once a month I will pick an artist,website, or a product to rate (I think it will be fun, and educational. ) Anyway, thank you to Crystal and cuteindiefinds http://www.cuteindiefinds.com/ and Corris with newsday.com http://weblogs.newsday.com/features/home/cheap_thrills_blog/2007/11/not_ready_handmade_shopping_gu.html

For featuring me in your blogs and for saying wonderful things about my shop as well as my items. Thank you to the both of you and for your kindness and for the others that share their truth and honesty.

Our Feathered Friends

This morning I was sitting in front of my laptop surfing the web approximately six in the morning sipping on my coffee, when the sun started to pick through the trees in the horizon , and I started to hear all the different birds just welcoming the day("Good Morning blue bird"..."Good Morning Cardinal"...). It was as if I had my own symphony Number 5 sung by birds (Mozart would be proud). They where singing their little hearts out!!! Then it hit me ...Like an avalanche coming down the mountain!!! Winter is around the corner and soon food will be scarce I needed to come up with a buffet of sorts Throughout the winter on the weekend(The weekend is a special time for us, it should also be for our feathered friends ). So every weekend as a fun family project we will replenish the buffet . I remembered that Mary Engelbreit's HOME companion mag. www.homecompanionmag.com/ (LOVE THIS SITE!!)Had how to make our feathered friends some treats...so I am going threw all my past Fall/Winter issues and ...voila, I found it !!!(Back in 1997 Oct/Nov issue )

Rice cakes Medallions:

Start by slathering peanut butter on to rice cakes and then dip it into a bowl of millet-birds need the fats in the foods like peanut butter and coconut to keep their engines revved up on cold days. Next, pressed and dried papaya or pineapple, coconut, berries and more fruit. For a non-tropical treat, apples and grapes are popular. Children can arrange fruit in to funny faces. Cardinals might not care, but you will chalk up a chuckle when a flying fellow makes off with a raspberry nose. Here are some other ideas of what to put on the rice cake medallions. Peanut butter, millet, popcorn, green grapes, raspberries, dried papaya, apple, apricot, coconut, banana chips, blueberries, and peanuts.

Fruity garlands:

String your snackables with a blunt tapestry needle on to bird friendly raffia. Although, bananas sport their own natural holes, but most fruits will have to be stuck with a tooth pick. Mocking birds and Thrushes will be unable to resist this artful garland of banana chips and cranberries. Woodpeckers will go straight for a nuttier number with hole unsalted peanuts and multi grain cereals. A strand of popcorn and grapes may be added here too.

Seedy Motels and Pretzel Palaces:

Slap a fresh coat of peanut butter "Paint" (One cup peanut butter mixed with 10 oz. of suet) On a school/lunch carton, roll the walls in cracked-corn stucco, and stick some sunflower seed shingles on the roof. Punch a hole in the very top and string some raffia through it to hold it on a branch. For the highfalutin set, like the haughty Bobwhite, open a pretzel palace. Glue together two half gallon juice cartons, and cover them with peanut butter mortar and pretzel stick siding (preferably salt free), with Chex cereal as the roof. Add a raisin box chimney if you like.

That should do it!!! This should keep your feather friends very satisfied and coming day after day for the wonderful buffet you have provided and as a "Thank You!" they will give you front row seat to the most wonderful concert ever.

Autumn is here!! can you believe it?

Whether you are ready or not Autumn is here! This is the kick off of my favorite time of the year. I shoot into home maker/decorator mode.

It all begins with my husband and I going to the attic and looking for the orange and black bins (since, all Orange is Thanksgiving, and Green, is Christmas ). On the bottom of the stairs I have my boys waiting (as if it was Christmas morning and they are waitting to see what Santa has Brought them). Once the bins start to surface they go nuts (WWWWEEEEEEYYYYYY)! Then the bins open and It is lots of fun...We see things that we remember...We see things that I purchased on clearance (after Halloween) that I tottally forgot about it ...Boy this is so much fun!!! This marks the kick off of the decorating/cooking time of the year.

We begin with the outside, then we move to the inside, then the final touches...We use all of our senses...visually the house is totally orange , with Some black (lots of pumpkins I was even able to find some White ones (they will look great in my chocolate dinning room.). We have some Cd's with scary sounds and a Dracula soundtrack (This is classical music that was played in the movie Bram stokers "Dracula" ) . Finally I take off all my Bath and Body Works Wallflowers and change them from the Spring/Summer fragrance(tropical passion fruit) to my Autumn/Winter fragrance (the perfect autumn "Apple") . Cook some chocolate chip cookies with pecans from scratch ...Vavoom!!!! done the house has gone a full transformation from the light and airy Spring/Summer look to the cozy, warm, and lovely Autumn/Winter look.

Throughout my favorite months of the year (Oct, Nov, Dec) I will be sharing some of my home recipes, tips, and decorations , which I have picked up here and there throughout my years in the states(who knows I may even share some of the Greek recipes, and traditions). Join me in this seasonal journey.

Designs by Nana Home

Here it is !!!! Finally, I launched my sister store "Designs by Nana Home" on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5308910 . This store will feature whimsical accessories for the home, and the holidays. I am so excited ; especially since I feel this will open new doors for Designs by Nana. I have been working hard in the production aspect especially since all designs are done by me without any patterns, and I truly enjoy that freedom . As of today I only have a couple of items listed ...keep checking back , for there is much more to come; I will try to add a little bit daily and thanks for looking.
Nana

Another Boutique order

Here's our second boutique order, all ready for delivery. This one is done primarily in pastels and chenilles. They are going to be monogrammed, which I think will be precious.

Bibs, and Burps, and Blankies, Oh My!

Below is a pic of My latest burps . They have soft minky and can be monogrammed. I just love the look and feel of these! These were ordered by a boutique here in town. The color combinations are lovely and I think using minky is a stroke of genius. These are available in our Etsy shop as well, and soon will be part of a pastel collection.

Finished Boutique Order

Here it is - My first large boutique order, all done and ready for delivery. It's immensely rewarding to see tangible evidence of our hard work. One big order down, three more to go...

What a week!

I can scarcely contain myself, friends...DBN has had an amazing few days. To start, I was featured in my first treasury, courtesy of the lovely calicoglass.

Another fellow etsian has featured DBN on her blog , appropriately named Precious Quilts. I had a lot of fun formulating the answers to her questions.

Finally, today, a local boutique placed a HUGE order.

I am amazed, humbled, and most of all grateful for my success so far.

While all this was going on, I finished up My latest project, the Cowboy Collection...

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

DBN is featured in our first treasury...

Well that sure was quick! I never expected to be part of a treasury so soon. Thanks, calicoglass, for including us! We're so excited about what we're doing here at DBN. When I go to buy fabric, I am kind of like a child in a candy store.

Here's my latest...my Cowboy Collection...hope ya'll enjoy!