Day Six: Whatever Tickles Your Fancy

I've been saving this post since March 7, MM's birthday. I wanted to do a Handmade Favorites post about one of his favorite pastimes, fly-fishing. Thanks to a good deal of encouragement from my Dad and my big seester, MM has become quite obsessed with fly-fishing. Not only does he fly fish, he also ties flies, watches fly-fishing shows, reads fly-fishing books and dreams up new fly recipes all day long. So, without further adieu, here are the best of the best fly-fishing themed handmade items the internet has to offer.


First off is this Fly Fisherman Vinyl Wall Decal by circlelinestudio. I think this would be a really great addition to MM's fly-tying room. My only worry is that he would see this and feel like bolting out to the lake more often than I'd like!


Image used is from circlelinestudio's Etsy store.


The next item I fell in love with is this Fly Fishing Tie Tack or Pin. KDemARTe is the Etsy store of Karen who hand-crafts all of her awesome wares from pewter. I really love the rustic, almost tribal vibe of the pin.


Image used is from KDemARTe's Etsy store.


MM would love it if I added these Natural Travertine Stone Coasters to the living room. I have to admit that I'd probably like them a lot, too. I like the patina on the fly-fishing holder created by the craftsman over at Stonegifts. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that these would be a perfect fit for our house!


Image used is from Stonegift's Etsy store.


I, quite frankly, don't know a fly-fisherman who wouldn't want a set of these Etched Pint Glasses created by the talented artist at East Mesa Design. I really admire the clean, crisp design and look she achieves and would love to order a set for MM right this second!


Image used is from East Mesa Design's Etsy store.


So many times, I see a beautifully designed room that is tarnished by a poorly executed art piece. It seems that the women in the world are far too lenient when it comes to allowing these expressions of our men's hobbies into our living spaces. Fortunately, there are some instances where a man's hobbies CAN blend into the house's decor. One example is this Creel On The Rocks original watercolor painting by MiWild. I enjoy the simplicity of the painting.


Image used is from Mi Wild's Etsy shop.


It took me a while to find a sweet treat to feature. There aren't too many fly-fishing cakes wandering around. I imagine it isn't a popular theme for those cake-worthy occasions in life. The one I did find, though, made up for the fact that there wasn't much to choose from. I found this awesome Creel Basket & Fly Rod cake over at Creative Celebrations. I imagine it would have made the perfect groom's cake for MM had he been into fly-fishing at the time. I'm sure y'all know that I'm a stickler for details and this cake has plenty for me. I really had to look twice at this one to make sure it was cake! Maybe one day I'll be able to surprise my honey with a cake this awesome.


Image used is from Creative CelebrationS' website.


Well, that's it for this edition of both the 30 Day Meme and Handmade Favorites. I hope you liked it and maybe got some good ideas for the sportsmen and women in your lives!

Cupcakes and Fishing Poles

This past weekend was a great one; my ideal weekend, really.

Friday night we had some friends in town who were passing through on their way home from Las Vegas. We had lots of BBQ and lots of fun and it was great to see them. They're one of my favorite families to hang out with. Just to give you an idea of the fun times we had, here's two pics from the evening. See the smiles? And this was early!!



Saturday was a lazy day. We spent the day watching tv, picking up the house a little and just enjoying the leisure time.

We were eating lunch after church on Sunday morning and I decided that I really missed fishing and wanted to be able to in the NEAR future. So, one trip to True Value and 24 hours later and we've got two new spinners and reservations at Balmorhea State Park for a weekend getaway. I can't wait to go and the best part is that we're going to celebrate my birthday while there! Nothing better than s'mores for a birthday treat!


My last hurrah for the weekend was baking these awesome Pink Lemonade Cupcakes that I tracked down on Bake Space. Aren't they adorable? The batter tasted delicious, but I haven't tried the finished product yet. They were made for my coworker's birthday, so we're waiting for the 3:00 p.m. crash to come before we eat them. I promise I'll edit my post and let you know how they turned out. They look like they're the perfect summer treat!


This morning meant back to work and reality, but it doesn't seem so bad after having such a great weekend. Now that our reservations have been made, I've got something to break up the time between now and our New Mexico trip in September. I hope time really flies the next few weeks!

ETA: The cupcakes were delicious!! The tart cupcake was balanced well with the sweet buttercream icing. What a treat. These are going into the permanent recipe file!!