25 Things Before I turn 25!

25 Things before I turn 25.
Its always nice to have goals so why not have 25 small goals to complete in a year?  I think I can do this and am so excited to share it with you.
Edits in red
1. Get a DSLR. Purchased November 25th, 2011. Canon Rebel T3 LOVE IT

2. Go on a road trip. Done may 20-22 with my friend Erin.

Road Trip!!!

3. Start a blog. Done may 25th Dotty's Attic.

4. Get 25 followers on my blog.

5. Get a crochet bow. (yes I want one that bad lol) One of my oldest and closest friends Erin made me several for christmas

Love my bows

 

6. Get lost for a day and love every moment of it

7. Write at least one new poem.

8. See someone I miss and haven't seen in 5+ years.  Done may 21st. My Kaykay :)

KayKay

9. Learn a new crafty thing such as knitting, felting, crocheting etc.

10. Buy a pretty dress that makes me feel amazing.

11. Go on a picnic.

12. Stress less.

13. Spend more time with important people. I will continue to work on this but I'm happy with how the amount of time I spend with people has grown.

14. Laugh more (who am I kidding I laugh all the dang time).

15. Worship and praise God more.

16. Uncover one amazing antique treasure. While shopping in Austin I found the perfect pyrex bowl.  Its the smaller version of the one my parents got for their wedding!!

17. Buy more handmade things. I now have a crazy hair bow addiction you will all get to experience

 
18. Add a unique duckie to my collection. (Don't hate).

19. Use every color of nail polish I own at least once.

20. Make a super amazing shirt for the craft fair next year. Won't be making the next craft fair in order to save money for fabulous trips!

21. See a movie at a drive-in.


22. Visit a place outside of Texas.

23. Add 5 new faces to my photography portfolio.


24. Get a pair of killer shoes.

I adore them!

25. Get a birdcage and paint it to be beautiful.

Memorial Day

My Photography

Hello my lovelies,
Memorial day is again upon us and it has come to my attention that the meaning of the day is being forgotten.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all. Read more here if you are interested.

Please take a moment sometime this weekend to remember those who gave all.

 

 

Tabernacle

Heath McRae went to Springtown with us. Great guy.

Source

A book that was sent to my Great Great Grandmother when my Great Uncle was killed in the war.

A page from the book.

The letter that accompanied the book. It's dated March 1954.

 

 

Source

French Toast Cupcakes

Hello lovelies! Baking is one of my favorite things.  Cupcakes especially! I love surfing baking blogs and experimenting on my own.  One of my favorite cupcakes recipes so far is for french toast cupcakes.  I found the recipe here.
 For those to lazy to click:

Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes 1 package plain yellow cake mix (I use Duncan Hines)
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside. Mix cake mix, pudding packet, milk, oil, eggs, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer until smooth (approximately 2 minutes). Spoon batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it 2/3 full.
Bake approximately 15-20 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.


Maple Syrup Frosting (this is now one of my fave cream cheese frostings)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B)-I use grade A and it tastes divine
Sift powdered sugar into a medium sized bowl. Mix cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar and maple syrup and beat until smooth.

I tried the crushed cereal on top and it was good but got soggy very quickly so I don't use it anymore.

Enjoy!

Dorothy Ann

Wasn't she beautiful?

 Hello my lovelies!  This post is dedicated to my Grandmother and the regrets I carry about not getting to know her. Oh what I'd give to go back in time and ask her about life.  About her mother like what kind of perfume she wore.What immigrating was like.  I want to know what her brother was like and I want to hear her naval stories.  I want to hear her side of her courtship with Papa. I want to hear her dreams and accomplishments; the things she never got to do.  I want to know what it was like to be a woman in the 50's.  Dishes her mother cooked.  Her K-mart stories.  What I'd give to have one of her frozen bananas or holiday sugar cookies.  We make those every year yet they just don't taste the same.  I can't smell the perfume exclamation without thinking of her warming loving hugs. I still remember the exact moment I realized what I'd missed out on by not talking to her more.  The day of her funeral we stopped at a store to get a paper with her obituary in it and when I turned to the page and saw the picture (the one I posted in here first) I saw the beautiful young girl and wow! what I life his woman must have lead.  I stare at this picture a lot and imagine the kind of teenager she was.  Movies and music she liked.  I know someday I will see her again and will get to learn all of these things and more. RIP My beautiful Granny I love and miss you.

Granny and Papa the year they were married.

I think she could have been a model.

My second fave picture of her. I'd love to recreate this someday.

She was one of the first female radio airmen in the navy!

This was Granny as I remember her...and with her clowns lol.

Welcome to the Attic!

Well hello my lovelies


This blog will likely remain my pretty little pet that most people doesn't know exists.  Which is perfectly fine by me.  If you have stumbled upon my little slice of chaos I'm sorry (just kidding!). This is a space for pictures, links, crafts, venting, daily life babble that I feel should be saved on a web page. I'm an eclectic person.  I love all things crafty, vintage, modern, photographic, interesting, and much more.  No my name isn't Dotty, its Elizabeth. Nice to meet you!  Dotty was my beautiful grandmother (Granny) whom I miss dearly. As you will later hear more about she helped me become who I am today and in ways she didn't even know. I have many regrets of not asking to her stories of her life when I had the chance, and refuse to make the same mistake again.  One of my many joys in life is sitting with my Papa and listening to stories of being in the navy; of meeting my Granny.  Listening to our crazy family history and whats wrong with the world today (lol). I suppose I should end this welcome here and start on bigger better posts.  So again Welcome.  Stay awhile and Enjoy!

Ciao!