on the vine...

We have been so enjoying our busy little summer, complete with picnics, butterfly chasing, and lots of dirt under our fingernails.  This pretty swallowtail butterfly visits us quite often, and we can tell because she is missing her tail on her left side!  So fun to look for her everyday.
I hope you, too, have been having a lovely summer!
Some links in case you needed a little reading...

Design: Love this Comparision print - perfect for a sweet little frame, and in 6 different colors! {via How Joyful}Photography: Create your own Instagallery - are you on InstaGram? {via My Home Sweet Home}Homemade: DIY Rope Basket - we've got plenty of old rope around here from my team roper husband! :) {via i Heart Organizing}Inspiration: Building Strong Relationships with your Children - such a sweet reminder {via I Take Joy}

Happy weekend!!

Happy Friday!  There's so much to enjoy! :)

Design: Father's Day printable... so excited to do this with my girls!  {via Kinzie's Kreations}
Photography: 20 Things about Posing... some great tips here even for a "momtog" like me! {via Photography Awesomesauce}
Homemade: Quinoa and Black Bean Lettuce Wraps... yum! {via keep your diet real}
Inspiration:  Books Every Geek Should Read to Their Kids...love it! {via wired}

snow and a happy weekend {on the vine}

Yes, snow.  But after that million dollar rain I talked about last week, this is maybe considered a million dollar snow, because if you know any farmers/ranchers, the key to a good year is moisture.  So we're staying tucked in this weekend and enjoying the quiet!  A special thank you to the members of our armed forces and their families for their sacrifices.  It is never forgotten.

How about you?  Do you have any traditions for Memorial Day?

Design: Two free iPad/iPhone apps from Disney Junior:  Jake's Never Land Pirate School and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Roadhouse Rally
Photography:  Photography tips from experienced photographers  {via Improve Photography}
Homemade: DIY Plant labels for your garden {via Flaming Petal}
Inspiration: 100 Free Things to do this Summer  {via Digital Reflections}

Million dollar rain and a happy weekend!

Last night we got what my husband considers a "million dollar rain" because of how dry it has been all spring, and our lack of snow cover this winter.  Everything is greening up a bit, and that makes our cows and calves very happy!
I survived my first race. I was actually so excited, as I had set my goal time to be under 1 hour, and I finished in 50 minutes.  My first 5 mile race was a success!  I have a 10k the middle of June, and I'm hoping to get my splits down a bit into the 9 minute zone.
Some links for the weekend:

Design - Love this Choose Joy printable... finding some wall space for it today!  {via Lil Blue Boo}
Photography - Want to make your own watermark in Photoshop?  {via Mom.tog}
Homemade - No Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares... yum {via How Sweet It Is}
Inspiration - In regards to the TIME cover... the mommy war against the motherless child  {via Rage against the Minivan}

Happy weekend all!!

Cows and a race... happy weekend!

Happy Friday!  We're working cows today... such a fun and busy day! Then tomorrow, I'm running my first race this year, a 5 mile one!  So excited.  What are your plans for this lovely Mother's Day weekend?
Enjoy some great links for your weekend.

Design: Pretty Lovely Design's exclusive facebook freebies - you want these!!  (via Pretty Lovely Design)
Photography: 10+ Tips for Photography People wearing Glasses - Great tips to avoid that glare! (via MCP Actions)
Handmade: Caramel Rice Krispies - perfect treat!  Make these today! (via Stella B's Ktichen)
Inspiration:  Decorating Truths from a 15 year old Boy - such a beautiful piece. (via The Nester)

On the Vine...

A lovely week ahead starting with a beautiful, sunny, and not-too-windy Monday morning!  I'm off to the garden to start digging.  Have a happy week!

Design:  All about protecting your online content.  So much useful info here!  {from Independent Fashion Bloggers}
Photography: Make your own Facebook Timeline photo!  {From Home Stories A to Z} 
Handmade:  DIY Gardeners' Skin Care.  Perfect!  {from Camp Wanderer}
Inspiration:  All about companion garden planting.  Carrots and tomatoes?!? {from Earth Easy}

New threads and reading material {on the vine...}

I was tinkering with the blog design this weekend... well, to be completely honest, for the last couple weeks.  A little DIY html coding never hurt anyone, right?  What do you think?

Anyway, what I'm loving right now:

Design: Speaking of DIY, a great post on DIY Social Media Buttons {from Little Becky Homecky} 

Photography: Gender reveal session with my very fave Nina.Cecilia twin sisters/photographers/oh so awesome travel buddies.  Congrats on the baby boy sweets!! {from NiceLovely} 

Homemade: LOTS of homemade cleaners to try... with printables! {from the Tidy Tangle} 

Inspiration:  "Escaping the Rut of Want" ... brilliant {from {In}courage}

Wishing you a happy Monday!

Spring Cleaning and Simplifying {on the vine...}

I just purchased this awesome collection of ebooks, and thought I'd share it with you!  I haven't had a chance to actually read many of these, but there are some great reads on tons of various topics all here for a great deal!

I am loving this series from Money Saving Mom, and what's great is that you can jump in anytime!  Today's task is to clean the oven and microwave!  Such a motivation to get on those spring cleaning tasks!

... And I'm off to finish the oven! Happy Tuesday!

Spring cleaning checklists

I'm always looking for ways to be more organized, and checklists are right up my alley when it comes to big projects like spring cleaning!

Thankfully, I'm not the first person in the world to tackle spring cleaning.  Head on over to Blissfully Ever After for an awesome spring cleaning challenge complete with tips, checklists, and lots of great organizational ideas!

I'm also super excited about a big Spring Cleaning Challenge hosted by iDreamofClean.net, it's easy to participate, plus you'll get lots of great info along the way!  Oh, and you have a chance to win some super cool prizes.  I could really get into cleaning my house for that! :)

And of course, the original housekeeper of the century Martha Stewart has an abundance of checklists, tips, and more to get you all squared away!

My spring cleaning plan of attack:

1.  Declutter and deep clean one room per day.  {Easier to clean with less stuff!}

2.  Organize boxes to giveaway, sell, and throw, and mark everything that will be in the garage sale this May.

3.  Involve my kids, they love to help!

4.  Green my spring cleaning routine.  {post of details to follow!  I'm so excited about this!}

What is your spring cleaning plan of attack?

Free Font Roundup {on the vine...}

1.  Znikomit No. 24

2.  La Quince de Mayra

3.  The Only Exception

4.  Ostrich Sans

5.  Qumpellka No 12

6.  Academy Engraved

7.  Noir-et Blanc

8.  Aquarelle

9.  Catharsis Espresso

10.  Hill House

11.  Avanti

12.  {Skinny} jeans


I'm in love with fonts, and ever since they have been turning up in my pinterest feed, I've been having fun exploring what other's like too!  These are my favorites, but I am constantly adding more!  Here's a few more resources I've found to satisfy your font addiction:

Source: goinghometoroost.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Tons of great fonts to download!  Pretty site too!

Source: thirtyhandmadedays.com via Bethany on Pinterest

One of my very favorite sites, Thirty Handmade Days, is starting a series on fonts, where she'll show you the fonts at work, too!  Check it out!

Source: thehandmadehome.net via Bethany on Pinterest

You'll have to check this out!  Beautiful fonts, but also some pretty funny dialogue about comic sans! :)



If you need help installing these fonts, don't worry!


What about your favorite fonts!  I'm always on the lookout for new ones! :)  


Happy Friday!

Free Love Printable {on the vine...}

All you need is love, right?

Enjoy this sweet little quote from Mother Theresa.  I hung it right by my front door, as a little reminder before I leave my house.

Just save it and print as you please! :)

Happy Monday, friends!  Love is all you need!

workout motivation {on the vine}

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a lovely weekend and are gearing up for a great week.  The girls and I are pretty excited for the little snow we got last night, and are ready to play outside!  Anyway, here are some great little workout plans and motivation I have found for myself, and I thought I'd share!

Source: coolrunning.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Couch to 5k plan! 

Source: wholeliving.com via Bethany on Pinterest

I thought this was a pretty neat plan, and very comprehensive!

Source: sidebysideblog.blogspot.com via Bethany on Pinterest

A short and sweet workout... pretty easy to remember too!

Source: amybayliss.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Food/workout journals.

Source: theprojectgirl.com via Bethany on Pinterest

...and more printables.

I thought I'd share sparkpeople.com as a great resource for weight loss, and it even has a neat little app to take with you on the go!


What resources have you found?  Any other apps/websites I'm missing that are good?  Do tell!

my one little word {on the vine}

Happy Monday and 2012!  I'm sure I'm telling you something you already know, but I just adore Ali Edwards' One Little Word project for each year.  Basically, you choose a word to help inspire, encourage, and maybe just help you grow in ways you wouldn't normally experience.  Last year, I chose create, which was incredible and allowed me to learn a lot about my limits and my abilities.  So when I was updating my personal blog this weekend, I figured I should decide on a word for 2012.

Drumroll...

This can be expressed in so many different ways, including the do nots, and I'm super excited to explore it in 2012!  Maybe you could've guessed by all my organizational printables I found, but organization, simplifying, and just general order is on my to-do for January!

I also thought I'd create a free printable with a "do" quote!  It's sized for 8x10, so go ahead and print it! :)

What about YOU?  Tell me your word this year, or link to your blog and show us what you're planning for 2012!

...on the vine {free 2012 calendars!}

Wishing you all the merriest of New Years!  To start 2012 off on the right foot, check out these great printable calendars that you can use to get yourself organized!  They pretty eye candy too!

Source: myowlbarn.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Source: thetomkatstudio.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Source: creativemamma.com via Bethany on Pinterest

on the vine... {christmas music}

Happy Monday!  We're busy decorating our trees {yes plural- we usually get one big tree for our living room, and then two super small ones for the girls' rooms!} and decking our halls today!  I thought I'd share my very favorite Christmas music with you!


 I LOVE Josh Groban's voice, and his Christmas album is perfect!

  Amy Grant's Christmas music has to be my very favorite, and has been for pretty much my entire life!  This CD was played over and over again when I was a kid, and now my girlies like listening to it too!

  How could this not be beautiful?  I love this album too!!  I only wish they had "Where are you Christmas" from The Grinch soundtrack, because that is my all time favorite Faith Hill song!

  I found this one in Amazon's $5 albums for December, and it seemed to me like a steal!  These are all your favorites from Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and many many more!  Love this one for a Christmas party mix!


You should also check out Amazon's 25 Days of Free Holiday Music, where you can download a song a day!  Today's download is Laura Story's Emmanuel!  Their deal of the day is Kristen Chenoweth's A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas for $3.99, which I decided for that price, I'd give it a try!  I'll let you know what I think!

What's your favorite music for the holidays?  Please share!!

on the vine... {holiday travel edition}

Our trip is finally here!  We leave tomorrow night, and by Wednesday afternoon we'll be on the beautiful beaches of Punta Cana!!  We're so incredibly thrilled to be a part of my best friend's big day, as it should be an amazing weekend!

In the meantime, I thought I'd kick off this week with some travel tips and links!!



I'm totally taking this idea from my childhood.  I gathered up various small presents for the girls, wrapped them individually, and packed them in their carryon backpacks.  Every hour or so they'll be able to open a new present!  My mom used to read us "The Night Before Christmas" and have us rotate the presents every time she read "and"!  Here is a sample of what the girls will be opening:

coloring books
playdough
moonsand
silly putty
little dolls
puzzles
special snacks
dvds
card games
dress up jewelry

Source: soyouthinkyourecrafty.com via Bethany on Pinterest

How cute is this?

Source: atsecondstreet.blogspot.com via Bethany on Pinterest

...and this?  I should have searched a little sooner!! :)


Happy Monday!!

on the vine...

Happy Monday!

I'm so excited to bring an awesome opportunity to you!  This year for December, I'll be featuring handmade tutorials, decor ideas, traditions, and gift ideas throughout the month.  If you're interested in submitting a guest post, contact me  {beth.ivytwines at gmail dot com} for details!  I'd love to have you!


And although I'm excited for Christmas, I am most excited for Thanksgiving!  I host my family here at the host, and look forward every year to trying new recipes!  Here are some yummies I've been eyeing...

Source: barefootinthekitchen.blogspot.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Source: jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com via Bethany on Pinterest

and an awesome free printable banner:

Source: atsecondstreet.blogspot.com via Bethany on Pinterest

on the vine...

Source: crazyforcrust.com via Bethany on Pinterest

YUM!  I made these last night, and they were even husband approved, which if you know him, you know that's amazing!  They were super easy and such a great way to use up the last of my zukes too!

Also, if you haven't listened, you must.  It's beautiful and perfect for this season of Thanksgiving, whether or blessings are explicit or not.

Happy Monday all!! 

:)

on the vine...

Happy Monday!  This weekend on Pinterest...

Source: sweetandsavorybysarah.blogspot.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Source: skinnytaste.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Source: thenester.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Bethany on Pinterest

on the vine... {free printable}

Happy Sunday to you all!

To get this printable, just click on the image to make it bigger, than right click to save on your computer and use as you'd like!