~zipper bracelets for tweens~

 Remember all the August birthdays I told you about 

a couple weeks ago? Three more of my nieces had 

a birthday last week and this is what I sent them:

They've been asking for zipper bracelets for 

awhile now and I've finally got around to making

them for the girlies. I think they'll really like them.

 I added the little piece of ribbon to this one

because it's for my younger niece and I 

thought it would make it look a little 

more age appropriate.  

And to my other niece who had a birthday last week...

I sent kisses to heaven.

Miss you everyday Sissy.

~first day of school interviews~

My little guy started Kindergarten on Monday.

We are trying to settle into a new schedule

and it's proving to be tricky and exhausting.

Honestly, I think it's the emotional part of

it that's making me exhausted. I thought I

was going to have a panic attack Monday, 

taking him to school. The days and months and years

of just being at home with him, doing what we want

have FLOWN BY. I can't believe we are already

at this point. 

I knew I wanted to do something 

special for his first day of school but couldn't 

come up with anything myself. 

I was browsing on Positively Splendid blog and

came across these free printables.

First Day of School Interviews.

She has them for every grade.

You can click (here) to check it out for yourself.

We filled it in that morning before school 

and I will put it in his folder for his 2012-2013

 school year mementos. I also marked his height

on our growth chart, another 

tradition I plan on doing each year.

If you haven't seen my growth chart, 

you can check it out (here).

(The pics and tutorial are real primitive-WARNING.

It's one of my first.)

I walked him into the school and acknowledged

in my head that it was time to surrender some of 

the control of who and what influences are

in his life on a daily basis.

Now I'm working on convincing my heart..... 

"Go confidently in the direction of 

your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."

~Henry David Thoreau

~little girls wire heart bracelet-EASY GIFT~

 Four of my eight nieces have birthdays

less than two weeks apart from each other in August.

YIKES.

I made a littler version of my heart wire bracelet for

my niece's 4th birthday party.

To package it I had my kids trace their hands

on a piece of card stock and we poked holes

thru it where a bracelet would be worn.

We looped the bracelet thru the holes and 

the kids wrote her a little note. 

I decided to wrap the wire with a piece of

fabric to give it a more juvenile look.

I loved the way it turned out and I think she did too.

 We wrapped it in tissue paper and put a pretty ribbon on 

it and.....VOILA! 

Done.

Easy. Personal. Realistic. Unique.

~the bounty of the Earth & a quickie recipe for vegies~

 I envy those who live in areas with a climate that allows

year round gardening. The process of gardening has

been something that I've learned to appreciate and

enjoy only in the past couple years. (Another, sign that

I'm growing up getting old?) Look at some of this

home grown goodness......

 This was my first beet crop ever.

They turned out so good!

Next year I will plant them a little earlier in the year

and a tad bit deeper in the ground.

 I wish I could say I grew this beauty.

My husband's aunt gave us a bucket of veggies

from her garden and this was in it. 

Our onions didn't fare so well this year.

They turned out to be rather small and sad :(

I think we need to plant them deeper next year.

 Alright, here comes the recipe for

the easiest and BEST side dish you can serve

with dinner. You can make a little or a lot depending 

on how many you have to feed. Also-you can put 
whatever veggies you prefer in it, but these seem
to be my go-to veggies because I usually have all
of them here on hand.

 Broiled Veggie Medley:

*Cut up in fairly big pieces and put in a baking pan:

-red potatoes

-any kind of pepper you want (in this I have anaheim & green belle)

-zucchini

-onions

-beets

*Drizzle olive oil over it and stir or shake veggies so

that they are all coated with the oil. Season with your 

favorite seasoning or spice. I used a combination of

garlic and italian seasonings.  

*Broil in oven, uncovered, on the bottom rack for

about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese

 the last couple minutes and let it melt. 

THAT'S IT! EASY AS THAT.......

SERVE AND ENJOY! 

This pan of veggies is all HOMEGROWN!

I make this a lot but this pan was the best yet.

.....and we weren't the only ones enjoying our veggies: 

 I think snails are GROSS.

They love my lettuce.

I found this little creature in my lettuce harvest

while I was washing and cutting it. It was tiny tiny.

I just picked the final harvest of my lettuce.

I haven't had to buy lettuce from the store AT ALL this 

summer thanks to my garden. 

This little fellow kept me company on the deck 

a couple nights ago:

 I love katydid's. They are one of the funkiest looking bugs.

I had to run grab my camera and snap these pics so

I could show my little guy the next morning.

 My flowers right now:

 The sunflowers grow wild and HUGE in our flower gardens.

I adore them.

My husband hates them and wants to immediately

pull them out when he sees them starting to come up.

I like the wildflower, natural look in a garden and my

husband prefers the pristine, manicured look.

Since he does 99.9% of the outside work, he wins......

however, he keeps the sunflowers because he knows

how much I enjoy them. I need to take a picture of 

them outside and share with you so you can see 

how big they are this year. This picture

below is one of them in my house right now.

Can you see my hand behind it as a reference to

it's size? ABSOLUTE BEAUTY.

I hope your weekend is full of fun.

Enjoy these last few weeks of summer.

School will be starting soon and with it, the easy,

free days of summer will end.

~thrifted treasures~

 As I've got older (and poorer) my Friday night activities

have changed DRASTICALLY. Gone are the days of

spending an hour "getting ready" just to go out

dancing and drinking into the wee hours. 

Now-many of my Friday nights are spent at my

local thrift store, searching for cheap treasures,

all in an effort to spend less than $10.

Seriously.

It's a thrill a minute.

OK-so maybe it's not a thrill a minute but 

it is FUN.....that moment when you spot your treasure,

 a beam of light comes down from the heavens, shining

on it, beckoning you to pick it up because it's

been waiting for you it's whole life.

The exhilaration of finding that

treasure after searching thru a bunch of crap

makes it all worth it.    

I found this treasure a couple weeks ago:

 

 For the bargain price of $4!

Aren't they to die for?

How cute is this wedge?

Plus-they make me like 3 inches taller.

Now that's what I'm talkin about.

~wire heart bracelet inspired by "I Spy DIY"~

 Another blog I love is 

"I Spy DIY".

She also has a book. I will soon share with you

 the projects I did from her book.

Today I want to show you the bracelet I made

a couple weeks ago, inspired by her.

 The link to her blog above is for a ring she made

out of wire, I swear I've seen a bracelet too

but I can't find that link. I don't know how she gets

her wire so smooth and intricate....practice I guess.

I made a hook to go thru the heart to 

latch it onto my wrist.

 I finished it off by wrapping the wire around itself.

I've been wearing it everyday, stacked with my other 

wrist baubles :) I think I'll try the ring next....or

maybe adding a charm to it.

~Faux Lace Tank-DIY inspiration from PS i made this~

 In the past I've always re-vamped shirts and clothes

by cutting them up, changing the shape, or making them 

something else entirely. I've recently discovered how

much fun it is to re-vamp clothes with fabric paint.

I saw this idea at "P.S. I Made This"

and knew I had to do it.....pronto!

 +

+

 =

Cute isn't it?

It was so easy. 

I got the tank at Michael's for $4.

The fabric spray paint was on clearance for $3.

I used a lace shirt I had in my closet that I haven't worn

for awhile. It was too tight and I felt roly poly in it.

 I cut the front section off like this

so I could lay it over the front of the tank:

Then I placed this piece over the tank top.

Be sure to have cardboard or something in between

the front and back of the shirt or the paint will soak thru.

Now spray.

Remove the piece of lace and let dry.

Up close:

That's it!

Check out the one she made at

"P.S. I Made This"

(click above to be directed).

Hers is way cuter and more detailed than mine.

And if you haven't browsed thru her blog

at her fun DIY's, you should.....

there are so many fun ideas.

 

 

~black cascading necklace~

 I've been in a jewelry making state of mind lately.

I've made lots.

I know I keep saying, "I've been making tons

of projects....I'll share them with you soon."

Mostly clothes and jewelry.....

I'm really going to try this week to start sharing them.

 What do you think of this beauty?

I made this one night last week when I couldn't sleep.

This was just the beginning....

 I've made 3 other necklaces since this one.

 ....and 3 shirts....

come back tomorrow to see one of them.