TODAY'S {HOT} Deals!

More great deals in our shop today!

First up: One of my FAVORITE tshirt designs!

DO THE ROBOT Toddler Tee (now sizes 12m to boy's size 7 available!)

Was 16.99 now only $10!

Next: The "Defenition of a Boy" Toddler Tee (12m to boy's size 7)

And just for fun, ANY ORANGE SHERBET COLORED Toddler Tee, You choose the design: was 16.99 now only $10!

And Don't forget to enter our giveaway for a lovely Inked Tote!  Voting ends Friday!

Today's GREAT Deals! And new sizes!

Have you heard the news?
We are getting ready for some big changes! The good kind!

I just got a huge shipment of new toddler tees. This means that I need space to put them.
We are also going to be switching Toddler Tshirt brands.

What does this mean for you??
We are clearing out our overstock! Our current tshirt brand needs to be sold out so we can make way for the new tees!

 Every day this week I will be putting up new SALES!

Get ready! Once the tshirts are gone, they are gone.

AND. . . MORE GREAT NEWS! we have expanded the sizes to go all the way up to size 7!

Today's deals are:

"Lock up your Daughters"  Toddler tee only $10!! (was 16.99)

And pick up ANY DESIGN on ROYAL BLUE for only $10 !!! You pick your favorite design and I'll put it on Royal Blue.

When printed, it will look a little something like this:

This is the "Choo Choo, I'm 2" design (obviously) but you can choose any toddler tee design you like.

I would also love to hear which tees you want to see on sale this week. That way you can snatch up your favorite designs for dirt cheap!

Inked Tote Giveaway!

I've been carrying around my new Inked Tote everywhere I go.
I love that it is one of those "good for everything" bags. We have taken it to church, to museums, the park, the grocery store and everywhere in between.

I wanted to offer one of you lucky readers a one-of-a-kind Inked Tote so you can enjoy it too!

Say goodbye to ugly plastic bags, (in our house we refer to them as "Wal-Mart" bags.)
These totes are perfect for small outings with your kids or for when you are out with the girls.

Each bag is hand printed with our Cantaloupe Corner designs. They are embellished with handmade fabric blossoms. Each one is unique and stylish.

The bag up for grabs is the blue one pictured above. It features a pearl white Fleur de Lis and a silver Birdcage. One flower is white and the other is navy blue gingham and they both have vintage buttons in the center.

JOIN THE GIVEAWAY!

1. Head over to Cantaloupe Corner and pick out your favorite item. Post it in a comment here.
2. Check out our Cantaloupe Blossoms shop and tell us what your favorite accessory is.
3. Follow our Blog.4. Be our facebook fan.
5. Let your facebook friends know about our giveaway. Post it on your page!
6. BLOG about it! Please leave a link to your post here.
7. Tweet about our giveaway.
8. Send us an easy-to-make project tutorial we can feature on our site. ( send it to CantaloupeCorner@gmail.com) Don't forget to post a comment here letting us know you sent a project.
9. Purchase something from one of our shops, Cantaloupe Corner or Cantaloupe Blossoms.


That's 9 ways you can enter!! .

Get in as many entries as you can cuz I know you will love these bags as much as I do!

Thanks for the love! Y'all are the BEST! I hope you win!!!


(Did I mention I LOVE my readers?! Well, I do!)


Giveaway closes at noon (AZ time) on Saturday the 15th of May. USA and Canada only.

{ To be a mother }

I am one of the lucky moms.
No, lucky isn't the right word. I'm am very blessed.

I was able to quit my day job when my first little one came along.
My mom stayed home with me and my 6 siblings.
I am forever greatful for a mother that was willing to stay home to teach us and help us grow. Her time is worth more than any other gift she could ever have given us.

 I always wanted to be like her and stay home with my kids.

(Here' my mom and dad. Aren't they cute?!)

The first few months after my first son was born I was restless.

I was full of new mom joy and postpartum depression, and I was so used to having a task list, or pile of papers to file, or clients to call. Now I was living on my babies schedule: feeding, changing, feeding, rocking, feeding.

It was emotionally draining and physically exhausting.

I spent nights in tears wishing for sleep but accepting the fact that if the baby didn't sleep, neither did I.

I knew that being a mom was going to be the best and the hardest job I would ever have. No one ever told me how much my emotions would be entwined with my new little stranger.

Having a baby is like having your heart outside of your body.

Now I have 2 amazing, smart, sweet little boys that I love so dearly! I know that God gives us children so that we can catch a glimpse of how much he loves us. It is vibrant, universe altering, and unconditional!

As mother's day is this weekend I thank my Father in Heaven that I get to be a mom.

I don't want a day of pampering , flowers, or breakfast in bed.

I want to spend mother's day being a mom: Reading stories, kissing owies, playing trains, singing songs, eating cookies and milk.

I want a day filled with horsey rides and tickle fights, sticky hands, chocolate faces, and sandy feet. 

I just want to be a mom. 

Happy Mothers Day to all of you AMAZING MOMS! You are doing a great and important work!

 Enjoy your children while they are small because "the handprints get higher and higher and then one day they disappear. "

Vintage photo tutorial with GIMP

Have you heard of GIMP? It's an AMAZING free photo editing software! Yes, I said FREE! No strings attached!
For any of you that already have it here's a simple tutorial to vintage-ize a plain photo.  This will also work with PhotoShop but you will have to do some translating because I don't know PhotoShop lingo.

1. Choose your picture and open it in GIMP.

#2: Under the "Colors" tab, choose "Hue-Saturation". I took the saturation down to -39 to make the photo look faded.

#3: Find a great texture pic, or take a texture picture of your own.  I found this great wood texture pic.

#3: Open a new layer and copy and paste the texture pic (or if it's your own picture, open as a new layer.)

#4: Stretch or shrink your image to cover the entire original picture.

 #5: Choose the "Mode" of your layer to play with the texture effects.

You can find the Mode at the top of your right hand dock window. It's a pull down menu.

Try some of these effects:

If the effect is too dramtic, tone it down by lowering the opacity.

Choose your favorite effect and make something amazing! 

I also added a vignette using Picnik.com (another FABULOUS free service).

So easy, and there is no need to buy expensive programs.

To get GIMP, Click here, or go to http://www.gimp.org/

Facebook Giveaway!

Our Facebook page just hit 100 fans!! *Happy Dance*

Celebrate with us by joining our facebook giveaway! Just head over to our fan page and comment on the giveaway post! It's as easy as that! You have 24 hours to enter!

 Here's the prize: A pair of Blue Blossom Bobby Pins!

You must be a fan to enter. Tell your friends so we can make this a big celebration! Thank you for helping us reach our first 100 fans!

Help us get 100 more! Suggest our page to your friends so they can join the giveaway too, and be the first to know about special offers and events!

** Thrifty Crafting **

What do you get when you mix a plain jane ol' board that's been sitting in the garage for a year, a coat of turquoise paint, a silkscreen, and vinyl lettering?

Yes, it's another episode of "Thrifty Crafting"!

My favorite projects are the ones that look fab and cost nothing (or next to nothing.)  I had all these things just hanging out around my house waiting for their time to shine! 

Maybe I'm a bit of a pack rat.  But only with craft supplies. . . . .and shoes. . .       I'm working on that.

The board was left over from our backyard sandbox project,

the to-die-for-turquoise paint is from the dresser in the picture that I am currently refinishing,

the vinyl lettering was a Christmas gift I got 2 Christmases ago from my sister. I hadn't found the perfect place to put it yet. Till now!

And you may recognize the "Birds in a Tree" screenprint.  This was my first, and definitely not my last, attempt to screenprint on something other than fabric! It was so easy!

And there you have it. Another thrifty, no cost craft!

CHALLENGE:

I would love to see your "Thrifty Crafts".   Dig through your garage, junk drawer, craft boxes, art closet, or where ever you keep your rainy day craft stuff, and make some thing what you've got, or  create something with some great deals from thift stores or yard sales!!

I would love to post your crafts here on my blog (If you would be so kind as to let me show off your greatness!)

Get busy!

Vote!

Vote for my Chandelier onesie on this months Busy Moms of Etsy Challenge! There are only 4 entries this month so I have a good chance of winning, but I need all of you to show your support for Cantaloupe Corner and VOTE!  Go check out the other great entries from our talented group too!

VOTE HERE

Thank you!

{ SPRING SALE }

May is here! Spring is in the air!
Flowers are blooming, he smells of swimming pool chlorine and outdoor BBQ are all around,  and warm weather is coming your way! (Unless you are here in AZ where HOT weather is in the near future.)
Did I mention it is going to hit 98-ish degrees this week! eek! I'll be outside frying eggs on my sidewalk that day.

What was I saying. . . . ?
It's time to stock up on spring and summer clothes for the little ones.
All week long I am offering free shipping in the USA and discounted international shipping on all of our printed tshirts and onesies.

Now you can get new summer tshirts for less! Visit Cantaloupe Corner to see our always growing selections and pick out your favorite ink-free designs and take advantage of our Spring Sale!

Oh, And I am definitely breaking out the BBQ grill today before it gets too hot outside. Burgers anyone?

  

I'm loving it. . .

Things I'm loving:

CRAFTY  FAVE: Amy Butler Fabric. Every yard of it is stunning, modern, fun, funky, unique. . .  I'm a sucker for her fabrics and the colors combos are fabulous! Amy Butler is my fabric obsession!

 I used her grey and white tumble roses fabric on my drum light tutorial (click here to see it)

 

JUNK FOOD FAVE: Pepsi Throwback: I've always been a Pepsi fan and since the Throwback is made with real sugar and not High Fructose Corn Syrup it tastes better and I feel a teensy bit less guilty about drinking it. mmmm.  And it goes great with peanut butter M&M's. Not that I would know.

HOME DECOR FAVE:  Black and white, damask prints, and chandeliers.  If only I had the time and money to re-vamp my home. . .  I would have a stunning crystal chandelier and dramaticly bold black and white prints. I'll add that to my to-do list.

ECO FRIENDLY FAVES:  Re-usable snack bags (Wee Pereas) and cloth diapers (Bum Genius)!

I love my Wee Pereas bags! I use them all the time and I don't feel bad about throwing away plastic baggies. And the Bum Genius diapers are, well, genius! They adjust from newborn to about 2 years old. I bought a couple of these and modeled my homemade diapers after them. If you are looking into cloth diapering, I highly recommend Bum Genius. They are easy to use and easy to clean and they come in vibrant colors like orange, blue, lime green, pink, and yellow!

 FOOTWEAR FAVE: Cutesy flip flips! I adore designs with fabric flowers. Here in AZ we wear flip flops all rear round. They are a fashion and comfort MUST HAVE.

These cute floral flops are from J. Crew.

HAIR FAVE: Beyond the Zone's Noodle Head Curling Cream.  I have naturally curly hair and this "hair goop" (as my son calls it) really does revive my curls and even helps keep the frizzies to a minimum. Result: soft springy curls!

TV ALTERNATIVE FAVE: I'm not much of a TV person. But, like all of you, I have my favorite shows that I don't want to miss (but I usually miss them anyways). I don't have TiVo so I use the next best thing: Hulu.

I find the newest episodes of some of my favorite shows and watch them in my office while I work. Fave shows right now:  Glee and House!

I was a major choir nerd in high school and college and I was in our school's "Glee Club" (a.k.a. Show Choir.) I still have moments where I grab my hair brush microphone and dance around the house with my kids. (If you could only see. . .  I'm such a nerd.)

Naturally, I love Glee!

These are just a handful of things I'm loving in my life right now. What are you loving?