Looking for an inexpensive way to cover your dreary situation and impress your friends? Add a little texture to your life with burlap! It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3… Just follow these quick hints and viola, your space has been transformed!
Ask your local coffee shop or garden center for any excess burlap bags. Cut them down to size and start your staple gun. An electric stapler is the way to go…
Cutting the bags into interesting shapes will make the wall really stand out. Start at the bottom corner of the wall and work your way out. Don’t stop until you reach an “architectural landmark” (i.e. a column or window…)
Put your furniture back into place, hang a few pieces of art and presto you are finished. Family and friends will ooh and ahh over your creativity!
Got a bad case of the blues? Then this is your remedy… A Bottle Tree will lighten up any occasion! For thousands of years, superstition has held that bottles can trap bad spirits at night, which are then destroyed in the next day’s sunlight.
Plant your very own Bottle Tree and add a little sparkle to your garden and brighten your day! Blue bottles are the best, and they help keep the “haint” away!!!
In merchandising, as well as design, a lot is said about the impact of multiple object(s) being grouped together (hint: always cluster items in a group of 3 or 5). The artichoke is a perfect piece for this example! When clustered around frames and decorative objects a few artichokes can make such a dramatic difference! Leave me a comment, question or picture of the challenging areas in your living spaces! We may feature it in an upcoming post.
Quick, drop whatever you’re doing. Not only are these cookies delish but there could be a dash of nourishment in them. It just happened by surprise when I was trying to make some low-fat cookies. Halfway through the process I realized I didn’t have any applesauce. So I used non-fat plain Greek Yogurt and hot damn they turned out GOOD! (These statements have been verified by a 5 year old so get to stepping!)
Skinny(ish) Peanut Butter Cookies
Servings: 12 • Size: 2 cookies Calories: 200 • Fat: 7.0 g • Protein: 4.4 g • Carb: 34.5 g • Fiber: 1.4 g • Sugar: 25.4 g Sodium: 113.1 mg
Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp natural peanut butter
1 egg
2 tbsp non-fat plain Greek Yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
24 Dove Chocolate Hearts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Line two cookie sheets with non-stick silicone baking liners such as Silpats (I highly recommend for best results) or lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt and stir to blend. In another bowl, whisk the sugars, butter, peanut butter, egg, yogurt and vanilla together until light and fluffy.
Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions until the batter is very well blended. If the batter looks more “crumbly” than smooth, add just a drop of water at a time (ONLY if needed) until it smooths out.
Bake the cookies for about 5 minutes then add the chocolate hearts and bake another 5-7 minutes. Take them out when they are still very soft in the middle. They’ll firm up as they cool. HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
On a recent trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific, I was so inspired by all of the sea life… Patterns in nature can be strong, bold and intriguing. Take a look at how these patterns in nature have translated into some of our fashions at A. Dodson’s…
Check out the color and pattern in the jellyfish, then look at this gorgeous beach collection! How appropriate that sealife would influence beachwear!
Check out how the same color in different textures can make a jellyfish so interesting, our Chanel and Lace Dress follows this same concept!
Leopards and Cheatahes have nothing on this spotted fish, you will feel the same way when you try on our Leopard Zippered Dress!
If you know us, you know we love to use what we already have when it comes to decorating and fashion. Take a look at a few of the things we used to decorate our walls using things we had laying around.
We found a tree knocked down after Hurricane Irene so we brought it into the shop and made it look like a tree is growing through the floor. We stapled craft paper to the ceiling and hit it with some green spray paint and added twinkling white lights.
We tore out pages of old Mad Libs and made a sort of DIY wall paper out of them! Perfect for a kids room or a guest bathroom.
We bought a huge roll of craft paper and tore of pieces, scrunched them up and staple gunned them to the wall.
We collected tons and tons of wine corks and hot glued them to a wall. Perfect for a memo board in your mudroom or kitchen!
We stapled greenery all over the ceiling of our garden room and laced twinking white lights in them to create an absolutely magical look. Perfect for a little girls fairyland bedroom!
First there was Black Friday, then Cyber Monday and now Small Business Saturday!
While we appreciate the attention on small business, we sure hope it’s not limited to a yearly tradition. How about Small Business Everyday? In honor of small businesses everywhere, A. Dodson’s will regularly pay tribute to those shop owners and their dedicated staff who keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive 365 days a year.
Here’s a shout out to our favorite local, small businesses:
Kim G also loves Bennett’s Creek Farm Market for the best bbq and creek slaw this side of ever along with Norfolk Ice Cream Company for letting her run a tab when the family stopped by during a bike ride without a wallet.
Who do you love? Give them some love in the comments below. And don’t forget to get out and shop with them this Saturday. And the next day. And the next day. And the next day…
We’ve been in denial for a while. In fact, we’re still in denial as we debate when her last day will actually be. She said she might stop by one day this week, so technically she’ll be back. Does that mean yesterday wasn’t her last day? The movers don’t come until next week so really there’s still time. She could change her mind? Sigh…
Our “We Can Do It” extraordinaire, our weekend trailer park/country club resident, our 5’13″ dear friend who can do absolutely anything except face a spider… is moving. Amy Walker Wheeler and her husband will be moving across the country to show California how it’s done. And while we will miss her terribly and be lost for a while without her, we keep reminding ourselves that now we’ll have a great place to stay when we visit Hollywood! So join us as we say goodbye to Amy in our typical know-no-shame style.
Maybe if we tell her southern California is crawling with big hairy spiders who want to eat her head off she’ll stay? It’s worth a try.
