inexpensive adventures
As I was cruising through some creative sites I found this inspirational list that inspires me to mix up my normal day-to-day routine. I've copied some of my favs below. Click HERE for the full list.
Make postcards out of old photographs or cards and mail them
to your family and friends.
Drag your tv outside and watch a favorite movie under the
stars. Make sure to bring your favorite movie snacks.
Research. Everybody is curious about one thing or another,
so look it up (on the internet, or at the library) and learn
something new.
Pretend you’re a tourist in your own city and go somewhere
you’ve never been. Walk or use public transportation to
get there, especially if you always drive.
Keep a gratitude journal.
Plan and go on a unique scavenger hunt. Try taking pictures of everything you see within the course of
an hour that is red.
Write goofy little secret notes to your loved ones and hide
them as surprises they can discover later. Try offbeat locations,
like behind a car's sun visor, or under the toilet seat lid,
or inside the freezer.
Build an oasis in the backyard. Hang up an old sheet from
one side of the house/fence to another solid spot. Bring out candles or put up twinkle
lights. Put pillows and blankets on the ground. Bring out a
cheap bottle of wine and pretend you're at the nicest hotel
in town in a private cabana.
Leave Behinds. Make little pieces of art to leave in your
returned library books. It will be a nice surprise for the next
person to check out the book.
Walk the dogs in a new neighborhood.
Cut up old magazines and make "wish collages" of
all the things you'd like to have or things you'd like to do. (I need to do this with all my old issues of cottage living & home companion mags)
Scour the "links" sections of some of your favorite
Web sites and discover new sources of inspiration. *(exactly how I found this sweet list!)
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inspired by kelly rae roberts
Meet the adorable Kelly Rae Roberts of Seattle, Washington. She creates inspiring images of lovely ladies and whimsical wonders.
Her story reads, "To me, art has been the unexpected & life-changing discovery of
finding my passion. It was a dream I neglected until I was 30 years
old, a whisper in my life yearning to be heard. When I finally began to
put paint onto paper, my heart and life exploded with a joy I hadn’t
known before.
Now, many moons later, the whimsical and playful nature
of my paintings still come from the inside like a quiet yet heartfelt
truth. Much like my own spirit, my work expresses honesty and
tenderness while remaining lighthearted and colorful. My hope is that
my work invokes a sense of clarity and peace within you as you walk
your own path in life, and that it inspires you discover your own
limitlessness."
We're excited to be offering Kelly's canvases, treasure boxes & necklaces in our Berkley & Rochester locations (and maybe online soon). For more about Ms. Roberts, check out her uplifting blog (and if you like her studio pics, you gotta see her super cute house)
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a sweet sketch of our store
Whenever 'catching fireflies' is mentioned on the internet, we get an email from Google with the link leading back to the site. I was delightfully surprised to find this lovely sketch from a talented gal who captured the whimsical flavor of our Rochester location.
Shal wrote, "There was this cute little building called 'Catching Fireflies' –
supposedly and arts and crafts store.. they have a lovely looking
building! So I had to draw that!!"
Thanks for sharing your sketch. We hope you stop by the store soon so we can meet you.
an apple treat in 40 seconds
So I was in the mood for some hot caramel & apple slices, but didn't want to put the whole caramel dip container in the microwave… so I put a dollop on top of my apples with a few crushed pecans and threw that in the microwave for 40 seconds. To my surprise after that short of time, the apples were cooked and my treat turned into a tasting like a warm caramel apple pie.
What a delicious surprise! This may be my new favorite quick-fix fall treat… and it's even 'sorta' healthy.
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what if gifts grew on trees?
On second thought… I'd be out of a job, falling gifts might not feel so swell if they landed on your head and we'd need a lot of 'leaf' bags come fall ;)
Wow… we can't believe how times flies! Looking forward to the next 9 great gifting years. Remember to SAVE-the-DATE for our big birthday party on Saturday, Sept. 26 – 20% off the the whole store plus sweet treats all day long!
rare bird finds feature
I absolutely adore this charming, whimsical little birdie clock.
The bird on top ticks back and forth, and the birdie on the bottom
flies as the clock's pendulum. $57.95 at Catching Fireflies During
this fine month of September, you can save an extra 15% (coupon code: ARTIST) on any of the clocks by this designer – yay!
Thank you birdies for whistling about our tweet deal:)
furry friends give-away
Since catching fireflies will be walking in the 4th Annual Humane Society's Mega March on Sunday, October 4, we thought it's only appropriate that we have dog themed give-away including… a playful dog flour sack towel, to do list magnet, dog bone paper clips, dog hair mug, handmade photo frame and some funny cocktail napkins. ($62.90 value!)
So how can you get these dog-gone great goodies for free?
There are 3 ways to enter – you can do 1,2 or all 3 to better your chances.
1. Comment at the bottom of this post and tell us one of the reasons why you love your four-legged family member(s) (cats too!). (no registration or sign-up required)
2. Spread the word about our giveaway on your Facebook page by clicking the Share on Facebook link below then send us a message via Facebook saying that you did.
3. Make a donation to our Mega March Team. *THIS OPTION IS WORTH 3 ENTRIES*
We'll draw the lucky firefly fan's name on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 and post it on the blog.
Have fun, good luck and thanks for playing!
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color my world
You know those flower of the month or beer of the month clubs… how 'bout a pencil of the month program? This fantastic site offers 500 amazing colored pencils of every hue imaginable. So you don't get overwhelmed, they send 25 pencils to you per month for 20 months.
They even offer pretty ways to store your very own pencil Kodachrome. Just lovely!
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dancing in the daylight
I stumbled across this cute duo while browsing for some other songs on itunes and now their track Daylight is at the top of my favs. It's the kind of tune that makes you want to skip down the sidewalk… which I whole-heartedly believe we all need to do more often.
A review from Spin reads, "Matt and Kim (their real names) come on like a punked-up Mates of State
— a couple so cute that you'd walk away from their frantic live shows
feeling mushy, if someone hadn't just mushed you. But the love songs on
their second album are for their home borough of Brooklyn as much as
for each other. The tap-dancing keyboards and pounding drums of
"Daylight" and "Don't Slow Down" soundtrack the duo's reflections on
what it's like to be poor and young in the city, where your fire escape
is your backyard and your summer wardrobe is your spring wardrobe plus
scissors." By Jessica Suarez
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september means cider time
Since the last weekend of August felt like fall, I thought why not welcome it with a tasty glass of cider and a sugar cinnamon doughnut? Even though our Rochester store is just minutes away from this popular place, Steve and I had never been to Yates Cider Mill before… and it was worth the wait! Our doughnuts were so fresh, they were still steaming plus you can actually see the process of cider making while waiting in line. So if you have the Michigan fall itch for tradition, make your way to Yates – they're even offering this sweet coupon for you early birds:)
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