Fireworks inchy

The Inchy by Inch blog posts a challenge every week. This week was to have some kind of fireworks/glitter on your inchy. Here's my attempt...


I LOVE GLITTER!!! I've been gradually collecting it, usually when I see it on clearance. For this inchy I got to use ultrafine silver and silver stars! I've had the silver star glitter for years, and have never used it, so I was happy to find just the perfect project :) And a rhinestone, my current favorite bling!

A visit to the thrift store

I haven't been to the thrift store for almost 3 weeks! I'm going through withdrawal LOL Today was such a nice day, so C and I went to the thrift store after dropping Az off at kindergarten. The shelves were almost bare! I think they are recycling their inventory right now. I still managed to find a couple of pieces for my milk glass collection though :) I got a vase to replace the one that I broke a few months ago (still crying about my poor little birdie salt shaker that broke in the same catastrophe), and a piece by Brody. I normally leave the Brody pieces for others to love, but this one had such a fun shape that I brought it home with me. It looks like a really big egg cup to me LOL I also found the broach, which I LOVE. Pink rhinestones... who could ask for anything better than that? And finally, I got a book, "Flat Rock Journal: a day in the Ozark Mountains" (LOVE nature writing!), and a basket. The basket is a hanging basket that's flat on one side. I had just seen a basket like it hanging on a door in a cottage style book this morning. I was so happy to find one to hang on my door! But then dh reminded me that you have to slam the back door to get it to stay closed. So it will probably end up hanging outside NEXT to the door instead. Life is all about compromise, right? Either way, I will have a cute basket LOL Now to find some pretty fall flowers and leaves to put in the basket! The last things I bought were some silver Christmas ornaments and 2 blue ornaments with snowflakes on them. They were the only ornaments in the store, and they are exactly right for my tree! It must be fate! C was so good to stay in the basket. I love shopping with a 3 yr old! I can talk to myself and people think I'm talking to him! LOL

October

the pumpkin patch

our maple tree

I LOVE October. The leaves dropping like golden rain, the clear blue endless sky, the crisp clean air, pumpkins and soup and sweaters... there are so many things to love about October. I really think it's my favorite month. On Saturday we drove to Paradise to get pumpkins. The patch we went to last year was out of pumpkins! Luckily there was a field across the street that was selling pumpkins too, so we got some there. It's so much more fun getting the pumpkins directly from the patch, out in the beautiful fall weather. Especially when you follow pumpkin picking with fresh apple cider and pumpkin spice doughnuts.

It's also the beginning of the Holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. I love the parties (as long as they are close family parties, large groups are just too much for me LOL), shopping, the cold air and snow, seeing the lights, singing, orchestra concerts... I'm so excited for it all! My youngest son, C, just turned 3 last week and my oldest son, S, will be 12 in December, so we have some birthdays to celebrate too. Most days I don't feel old enough to have a 12 year old son! Saturday they were all out playing in the leaves. They raked up a big pile at the base of the tree, then climbed the tree and jumped into the pile. Sounds like a broken neck waiting to happen, doesn't it? But it sure looked like fun. I admit that I ventured out to kick the leaves around a bit myself :) And I've been sewing table runners for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I even started a Christmas one, and need to finish the snowflake one I started last year. So many fun holiday projects!

This upcoming Saturday I get to go hiking with the 11 year old Scouts (including S). I cannot wait! I hope the weather stays as lovely as it has been the last few days!

What do you love about Fall?

Around the World

J and I, Biker's Roadhouse

Yesterday and today my dh (J) and I took a trip around the world. A couple of times even. We started out in Egypt, visited Africa and Mexico, stopped by the Taj Mahal, road a "hog" to a roadhouse, took in a movie at a drive-in in the back of an old Ford truck, hung out in Vegas, visited a tipi, and did a little alligator-watching in a bayou. How did we manage all this in 2 days? Check out the Anniversary Inn website for the pictures!
Dh takes the pictures for the Anniversary Inn in Logan and Salt Lake City, Utah, and Boise, Idaho. The Logan Inn had just finished creating 9 new rooms and they needed pictures of the rooms for their website. So we spent yesterday and today taking the pictures. As part of the deal, we got to stay in one of the rooms. My sweet mother-in-law watched my 5 kids so dh and I could spend a working/romantic evening together. We chose to stay in the Nephertiti's Court room. It was beautiful, with a wonderful Egyptian theme. The artwork and accessories in all of the new rooms are stunning! I can't believe the incredible attention to the details. If you're ever in the Logan, Salt Lake, or Boise vicinity, check out the rooms at the Anniversary Inn. If not, wait a couple of days and dh will have the pics up on the website; http://www.anniversaryinn.com/logan.php .

Reclutter

I've been trying to declutter my house, so today dh and I took a bunch of stuff to the local thrift store. And since we were there, of course we had to go in and look around! There was a little milk glass available, so I was able to add 2 more pieces to my little collection. I like the little pear plate, just have to figure out how to display it so you can see it! The other piece is a candle holder, so I'll have to find a pretty candle to go in it. The vase is actually for my sister; it matches a piece she already has. The cherry plate is also for my sister, as her kitchen is decorated with cherries. It is SO cute! She really has a flair for decorating. It was nice to find some things for her, since she is always finding things for me! I was really happy to see the flower plaque. It matches my bedroom perfectly! I'm thinking I might add some lace around the outside edge. We'll have to see how it looks. I also found another pair of clip-on earrings, which was really exciting! I would love to find a bunch of vintage jewelry, but most of the jewelry at this thrift store is 80's chic LOL You can't see the cupcake stand very well, but I was thrilled to find that too. Once again, copying my talented sister. She has one of these, and it is always decorated so cute! I found the 3-tiered shelf last month, but haven't shown it yet. I LOVE it. It still had the price tag from the store on it, for $37! I paid $3. Now I just have to figure out where to put it. It's not the most convenient shape LOL Dh calls it the "sleigh", so I'll be decorating it for Christmas at least!
So, declutter, reclutter :)

Tagged

I've been tagged by my sister at Keep Me In Stitches to share 6 quirks about me. I either have too many quirks, or not enough, because I can't think of 6 specific ones LOL But I'll give it a try...

1. I'm a LISTER. I make a list of literally everything. Birds I've seen, wildflowers I've identified, books I've read, DMC floss, all kinds of things. I don't feel like I've accomplished or it isn't real until I've made a list of it LOL And apparently I keep all those lists. I'm in the process of decluttering, and I'm finding lists all over the place!

2.I'm a READER. I read everything I can get my hands on (except most cheesy romances LOL). Right now I'm paying $163 a year so I can have access to a bigger library. Keep your fingers crossed that the new county library bill will pass, and I won't have to buy a library card anymore! (of course, we will pay through our taxes, but I'm okay with that :) The great thing is, I can read, watch TV and listen to dh and the kids all at the same time. Since I am the only person in this family who doesn't talk non-stop, this is an important skill to have LOL

3. It's easier for me to deal with a GROUP of people than an individual. I can get up and give a talk in sacrament meeting or even sing a solo a capella (which I did this past Sunday), but stick me in a one-on-one conversation with another person and I just about pass out. I have to force myself to attend things that might require me to interact with people LOL, unless I am the one giving a lesson, then I'm just fine!

4. I love to LEARN. This kind of goes along with reading. If I decide I'm interested in something, I'll read and research until my curiosity is sated. And I have a HUGE variety of interests, although most of them have to do with the natural world. This makes me a know-it-all on Jeopardy nights :) One of my goals in life is to be an eternal student. I'm hoping to go back to university as soon as all my kids are in school all day. I love it when my kids have homework, because I love doing it with them! And now that my oldest ds is in middle school, the homework is finally getting interesting LOL

5. I'm a COLLECTOR, but I don't collect the "usual" things. For instance, if you visit my house, you'll notice rocks everywhere. That's because I have never outgrown the childhood habit of putting rocks in my pockets. I find interesting rocks all over the place, and if it's movable (and it doesn't obviously belong to someone LOL) I put it in my pocket, or the back of the van, which drives dh nuts. I also love elephant shaped beads. Guess what? There aren't a whole lot of elephant shaped beads out there LOL And milk glass... who couldn't LOVE milk glass? But I only buy it at my local thrift store, and I refuse to pay more than $2, so my collection is pretty small at this point. My biggest collection is field guides. When you love books, are obsessed with learning new things... well, field guides are my best friend :)

6. I want to be a NATURALIST when I grow up. More than anything I want to take young kids out in nature and show them how AMAZING it is! This is one reason why I love working with cub scouts so much. We have a nature center just up the canyon, and I hope to volunteer there some day. To that end, I'm trying to learn all about everything up the canyon, and here in the valley, since it's an incredible place too. I'd love to go around to schools and do presentations. It's so much fun to open eyes to the beautiful world God has given us! And I enjoy teaching kids how important it is to take care of our world too.

So there you have it. 6 things about me. I'm supposed to tag 6 other people, but that would bring out my fear of talking to individuals LOL, so.... if you post 6 things about yourself on your blog, let me know, and I'll come read it!

Must be lazy...

Sadly, it has now been ANOTHER month since I've posted! I have to say though, that September has been a little crazy. Getting the kids back into the school routine has been hard. Especially now that S is in middle school/6th grade. It's a whole new world once you leave that elementary school, for me as well as for him! And having a half-day kindergartener is throwing me off too LOL I just can't keep track of everyone! It's so much easier when they all leave at the same time and all get home at the same time. But on a positive note, E, who has been homeschooled for the last 2 years, is really enjoying 5th grade at the school.
It was also my birthday this month, which leads us to the subject of the birthday curse LOL Seriously, my birthday IS CURSED!!! I have spent 2 birthdays in the last 6 years in the ER with injured kids. The other 4 years, someone has been injured right around my birthday, but not on the actual day. We actually joke about what is going to happen THIS year? LOL Luckily there haven't been any serious injuries, but it never fails that someone will be injured (stitches, broken collar bone, falling off a jungle gym, biting through bottom lip, dislocated elbow, you know, the usual). This September seemed even worse than usual. Not only did A bite through his lip, but every time I turn around I am either tripping over something or running into something. I'm one big bruise! LOL Thank heavens it's almost October! :)
Right now I am working on a cute wall hanging. If you have the BHG Holiday Crafts magazine for this year, it's the 12 Days of Christmas project on page 61. I have all the images stitched, and I'm going to get the pears done today. I'm cheating and using felt to back my pears, then blanket stitching around everything. The whole sandwhich everything together was too much work LOL I'll try to post some pics in the next day or two.
I hope you are all enjoying beautiful fall weather! It's crisp and cool here!

Back Again!

Clodius butterfly on fox mint

Wow, I can't believe it's been basically a MONTH since I've posted! August has just flown by. But the kids are back in school again, so hopefully I will have more time! My oldest, S, just started 6th grade at the middle school. When did I get old enough to have a 6th grader?! E is back in school this year, in 5th grade, after learning at home for a couple of years, and seems to be doing really well. A is in 3rd grade and Az is in afternoon kindergarten. That means I will only have C in the afternoons. It's going to be SOOOO quiet! I might actually start scrapbooking again! I have been trying to clean up my craft area in anticipation of being able to use it. So far I think I have just created a bigger mess, sigh.
Some of the fun things I did this month include: going sailing for the first time (there is NOTHING like sailing under the stars. It was AMAZING), camping in the Uintah Mountains with dh for our 13 year anniversary, and an Audubon fieldtrip to Tony Grove up Logan Canyon (where I got 3 new birds for my list, including a life bird Rock Wren, and saw an amazing variety of wildflowers). Oh, and how could I forget the FROG!!! The kids have been begging me to take them to a local park with a stream so they could catch a frog. Never thought we'd actually catch one! He's a Northern Leopard Frog and we have named him Clyde (after my grandfather who passed away in Feb. Somehow I can't see him being overjoyed to have a frog named after him. He was an accountant, not an outdoor type of guy LOL). Anyway, we have really enjoyed the antics of the frog, who has already escaped once. I also picked up a couple more pieces of milk glass for my small collection. I have it all lined up on top of the piano for now, but I am out of space, so I'd better stay away from the thrift store for a while :)
So that's my month in a nutshell, and I leave you with some pictures...

Clyde, the Northern Leopard Frog

fireweed

buckwheat
near Smooth Rock Falls on the Provo River, Uintah Mountains, Utah
Indian Paintbrush, Uintah Mountains, Utah
Elephant's Head Lousewort, Uintah Mountains, Utah
water hitting a rock, Smooth Rock Falls, Uintah Mountains, Utah
Provo River Falls, Uintah Mountains, Utah

Whooooo

Dock on the pond at the ATK Ranch, Promontory, Utah

I bounced out of bed early Saturday morning to meet the Audubon group and go birding in Box Elder County (the next county over). Okay, maybe I didn't bounce exactly, considering that I was up until 1:30 the night before, but at least I managed to drag myself out through sheer anticipation LOL There are several places in Box Elder County that I have always wanted to go, but have never had a vehicle able to get there. Since we were carpooling, this was my BIG CHANCE. Unfortunately, we didn't end up going anywhere my car couldn't have gone, but we saw some great things anyway!

One of our first stops was an empty grain silo with nesting Barn Owls. We were given STRICT instructions to make as little noise as possible, and only stick our heads in the silo one at a time. I was patiently waiting my turn when the owls decided they had had enough. Out they came, right out the bottom of the silo we were sticking our heads in! It was SO AMAZING!!! Juvenile owls were flopping around at our very feet, running into people's legs as we all ducked to get out of their way! They are incredibly beautiful, and I really wish I had brought my camera over to the silo with me. After the owls (at least 4 or more) flew off to quieter perches, we all felt so guilty for disturbing them. I hope they all made it back home safely!

Our next stop was Golden Spike National Historic Site, where the transcontinental railroad met. A couple of birders in the group had found a Burrowing Owl nest site around there a few days previously. I have never seen a Burrowing Owl, so I was really excited about this stop! As we approached the nest site, there he was, sitting calmly on the fence, right next to the road. Unlike the Barn Owls, he was completely unconcerned about us staring at him. Barn Owls are beautiful, but Burrowing Owls are just plain CUTE.

Burrowing Owl

We continued on down Promontory, where we were blessed with a rare glimpse of a Common Nighthawk perched obligingly on a leafless branch in broad daylight. I've never actually seen one perched before, much less in good light where you can see all his lovely camouflaging. Usually I see them as shadows with white wing bars zooming around parking lot lights.

My other great bird for the day was a lifer Say's Phoebe. This bird was hanging out on a farm with the cows LOL

While we didn't see a LOT of birds on this trip, and none of them will count towards my "200 bird" list, as they were not in Cache Valley, really the best part of the trip was getting to know the other birders. I really enjoy riding with Dick and Dorothy, and had wonderful discussions with them about not only birds, but wildflowers, which Dorothy know a lot about! And Dick had some really great field guides, like Butterflies of the West and Dragonflies of the Southwest. They are great people, and I look forward to birding and wildflower watching with them again! They even took the group a little out of our way, just to show me a Blazing Star wildflower. Unfortunately, it wasn't in bloom at the moment, having spent flowers and unopened buds on the stem. But I should be able to locate it again another time. I love how my hobbies have allowed me to meet many wonderful people!

Desert Whitetail Dragonfly on marsh grass

When I got home, I discovered that dh had gone to the thrift store without me! And he got this great desk, to replace the monstrosity that I am currently using. A great deal for $15. Now I just need a LOT of primer and white paint to fix up all the goodies accumulating around my house LOL

Welcome!

This is my latest project. While visiting the Oh Merci blog (this is such a great blog, you really must visit it) I found the instructions for this project. Check out her June 26th post for the instructions and her example. It's beautiful! I really loved the project and wanted to make one, but I couldn't decide what letters to do. In the end, I decided to do a "W" and add a little "welcome" in a book plate. It's done in the colors of my living room; blue, aqua and greens. I've had the silver ricrac for a while now, trying to find just the perfect project to use it on. This was the one! And of course there are sparkly rhinestones in the center of the flowers. Can't forget the bling! LOL This was SO much fun to make! I'm going to have to find some more places around my house that need to be graced with a monogram :)
Note: I used the end of a paintbrush instead of Q-tips to create the dots.
This little plaque is hanging up in my back entry way. I got the wooden plaque at JoAnn's (a craft and fabric store), painted it, and added a bunch of STUFF. I love collage art, but I'm still not very good at it. I have a tendency to think in straight lines; it's hard for me to throw stuff together LOL But I really like having it hanging on my wall, kind of covering up a bad spot on the wall LOL Haven't gotten around to painting that part of the house yet.
If any of you end up making a polka dot monogram, please let me know! I'd love to see it!

More shopping...

I managed to resist for 3 days, then I broke down. It never would have happened if I hadn't have HAD to go to the library. I got in the van, headed to the library, and it just automatically drove to the thrift store. Totally not my fault, right? :D


So I ended up with MORE milk glass. You should have seen dh's face when I got home LOL I got the little bowl, which is propped up on a book so you can see the pattern better, and a vase-looking bowl. Love them both. I also got a REALLY CUTE RED train case! I can't wait to get it cleaned up! Not sure if I'm going to try some fun decoupage, or just leave it as is. It even has the mirror and toiletries bag in it, and the inside is in perfect shape. I wish there had been 2, because my sister really loves it too. Guess I'll just have to keep looking for another one, means many more trips to the thrift store! I was happy about the flower frog too. I've wanted one of those for a while, but I'm too cheap to buy a new one. Of course, this one looks so cute in the package, that I don't know if I'll be able to use it anyway LOL I got a shelf for my living room wall too, but I'll show you that if I ever get it hung up :)


By the way, I checked out several Depression Glass books at the library. Gotta learn about my budding collection, right?

by the inch

I have seen "inchies" mentioned on some paper crafting blogs, but wasn't entirely sure I understood the concept. Well, today I discovered the Inchy By Inch blog! Yippee! A whole blog dedicated to a new-to-me art form. And there are challenges, which means I will be inspired! The challenge for this week was to create an inchy with a travel theme, and then use it on something, like a card. I made three little inchies: "journey", using a gold sequin leaf, a tiny shell, a date stamp, handwritten journey, and a paper scrabble tile "j"; "explore", using a hand image cut out from a Stampin' Up! catalog (after being a demo for 5 years I have a LOT of catalogs, so I figured I'd cut them up LOL), handwritten explore, paper scrabble tile "e" and a months stamp; "wander", using green jewels, a shiny copper stone bead, a date stamp, paper scrabble tile "w" and handwritten wander. That big stamp on the card is a foam stamp I got from Micheal's. I think the patterned paper might be scissor sisters, but I'm not totally positive.

The inchies were really fun to make, although I think I need more practice LOL It's quite a challenge to create something so SMALL! Give it a try! And check out the Inchy By Inch blog for some inspiration.

Paper crafting tags

I found a blog called Weekend Taggers/Tag You're It. They post a challenge every week (I think LOL), and the challenge for this week was to use red, cream and brown on a tag. Well, since I really wanted to create something, and I always do better if I have a challenge or a deadline, I decided to give it a try. Here is my creation...

And then I decided to make another goodie, just for fun. The argyle background paper was actually the packaging for a stamp I bought, and I decided it was way too cute to throw away. So I added a few embellishments and a quote (seriously LOVE quotes), and here it is! The butterfly and the flowers in the tea cup and in the metal embellie in the top left corner are cut from a flower catalog, and then embellished with rhinestones. I have this sitting in my white basket with a bird's nest and a glass jar full of bird's eggs. They make a nice little tableau :)
Now, just as soon as I get my desk cleaned up AGAIN, and find another challenge, I'll create something else! Check out the Tag You're It link for more red/brown/cream tag ideas!

Shopping...

Saturday morning started nicely with a garage sale down the street. I actually DREAMED about this garage sale all night, because I had been told there would be some milk glass LOL So I headed over there, found the milk glass and decided it wasn't really what I was looking for. Of course, after spending the day online looking at milk glass prices, I wish I had bought it LOL But I came home with things I loved even more. The reason I spent the day looking at vintage glassware was to see if I could find more information on the pink glass compote. I couldn't find anything, so if anyone has any ideas about it, let me know! I also picked up the little vase (I suspect it might really be a toothbrush holder LOL) and the bowl. And a black metal shelf, just like the one I had hung up the night before in my bathroom! Except the bathroom shelf is cream, but the black one will look really nice downstairs. And then, I discovered the sweet little case, buried in a pile of things that hadn't been priced yet. I asked about it, and my nice neighbor lady let me have it for $3, including all the Fisher Price Little People stuff it was full of. I told her I didn't need the little people, but I ended up with them anyway. I'm glad though, as my mother-in-law has the matching house and circus train, so I'll be sending them to her.

After the garage sale, we took the kids to a get-together up the canyon at the Stokes Nature Center. It was a lot of fun, and the temperature and weather were perfect. We learned about different trees and plants, saw some fun birds, held snakes (yes, I really do like to hold snakes LOL), and had a nice picnic.

On the way home, dh turned to me and said, "How about a visit to the DI?" (the name of our local thrift store). Are you kidding me?!!! Of course I was more than happy to go! I managed to find a few things I had to have, including yet another black metal shelf! Now I'll have a matching pair downstairs. I was REALLY happy to find the little vintage bird pictures. I just about jumped up and down LOL I'm going to paint the rough wooden edges white. I was happy about the hobnail milk glass bowl too. I also picked up some craft books and a pair of, believe it or not, PURPLE Sketchers hiking boots. I'll be hiking in style now! LOL


Ahhh... I love thrifting.

A New Love, A New Hobby

Do I need one more hobby? Umm... no. But the long, cool, wet spring has turned into a summer that is overflowing with a riot of wildflowers! And I can't resist them. As may be apparent from earlier posts, I am a birder. I love birds, and this year I am making a serious effort to see as many as possible. In fact, I am at 137 species seen in Cache Valley! Plus a Great-Horned Owl in the 2 adjoining valleys and a life-bird Sage Thrasher in Wyoming. It's been a great year! Anyway, when you are out looking for birds it's hard to not notice all the OTHER wonderful things surrounding you, like millions of wildflowers! I've been checking out every available wildflower book from the library, and I recently bought a nice book called "Plants of the Rocky Mountains". And yet I STILL cannot identify the majority of flowers I have pictures of. It's SO frustrating! Much easier to ID birds LOL
So my new love, my new hobby is photographing and identifying wildflowers. Be prepared... there are probably a lot of flower pics coming :)
Colorado Columbine at Tony Grove, Utah
Small-flowered Woodland Star, one of my most favorite wildflowers. It is so tiny and delicate that it is easy to miss.
Phlox species, Limber Pine Trail, Utah I also saw a lot of these at Fossil Butte, Wyoming

More flower pictures coming soon!

Like I Need More Stuff

In theory, I am decluttering, simplifying, unburdening... In actuality I am collecting yet more STUFF. Because now I am in love with thrifting. Which means that instead of cleaning out MY stuff, I am now adding OTHER PEOPLE'S stuff to my already overflowing house! AHHHH!!! But it is seriously fun, so what can you do? LOL
Anyway, I got to go to the thrift store with my sister when I was visiting her on one weekend, and then to my local thrift store when she was visiting me the next weekend. She, of course, found all kinds of wonderful stuff (she is a cool stuff magnet LOL). I found some great stuff too, and here it is!

We have a Martha Stewart soap dispenser that I am going to use for lotion in my room. J (my sister) has lotion dispensers all over her house, and I love how luxurious that feels. There is a little blue bowl with snowmen painted on it, perfect for Christmas snacks (my Christmas decor is blue/white/silver). All of my vases are really boring, so this white vase will be a welcome addition. The little pie tin is to make a "tart" pin cushion. I love that white metal shelf. Yet another little metal basket (dh definitely rolled his eyes when he saw it LOL). Antique Copper-finish napkin rings, just cuz someday I may use linen napkins :) And the best item: a vintage drawn-work hankie with a crocheted lace edge. It reminds me of the beautiful handkerchief given to me by my great grandma, with drawn-work and a tatted lace edge. And in the background, don't you just love my vintage unpainted baseboards? LOL

This second pic is of my three most recent pretty little plate purchases. I have no idea why, but I LOVE pretty little plates. I even use them occasionally! I make up reasons to use them :)

Darn, just realized I forgot to take a pic of the cool tall glass jar that J found for me to put the HUGE amount of shells that we brought back from Bear Lake in, and the pretty silver lace-look cake rack thingie. Next time I guess.

Now, just have to wait until payday until I can hit the thrift store again!

Been There, Done That

I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted! So sorry! This has been one long, busy month. We went backpacking, spent a week in a condo at Bear Lake, went to cub scout day camp, then off on a quilt shop hop for 3 days. It was a really fun, great month, but I am so happy now to just relax. Well, maybe next week anyway LOL This week I am trying to get my poor neglected house cleaned up for my son's baptism on Saturday. So check back next week for a whole LOT of PICTURES!!!

altered muffin tin

A couple of weeks ago I saw the CUTEST idea on the junk drawer blog. Maria had taken a muffin tin and painted it pink, then put votive holders in it. I absolutely loved it, and just had to make one! LOL So I got some votive holders at Micheal's and an old muffin tin at the thrift store. And there it all sat LOL Today I just had a creative bug bite me, and I pulled out the muffin tin! I didn't have any primer though, and I couldn't wait to get some, so I decoupaged it instead. I only put the paper on the top, leaving the bottom and the part where the muffins go (what would you call that? LOL) the original muffin tin silver. Then I added a whole lot of buttons. It still looked plain, so I hot glued some big rickrack around the edge. My mom was cleaning out a bookshelf Sunday, and I offered to take some votives off her hands :) They are the perfect light green for my living room! (they're Spearmint by Partylite) I really love the way it turned out! And it coordinates so well with my sweet birdie tree.

Now, off to the next project! I've already finished part of it, and I'll show you tomorrow evening!

Check out these give aways...

Here are a couple of great blogs to check out... Sanctuary Arts and Cupid's Charm. They are both having wonderful give aways this month! And they're also fun to visit just because :) Since I STILL have not figured out how to put the link in my blog entry (even though my much more computer savvy sister told me how), you can find the links to SA and CC in my blog list on the right.

I'm off to Salt Lake for my nephew's baptism tomorrow. So exciting! Congratulations K! Dh wants to stop at Cabella's while we're down there. I'm hoping for Tai Pan Trading Company myself LOL I enjoy Cabella's, but the kids get REALLY BORED long before dh gets done looking at camping gear! We're getting ready to go backpacking in a couple of weeks though, so of course we have to check out the new gear!

paper birds

I was in charge of paper lanterns for our Blue and Gold cub scout banquet back in February (the theme was Chinese New Year). I needed something cool to hang the lanterns on so I covered an old formula can (I KNEW those would come in handy some day! LOL) with red paper, stuck a branch in it and hung red and yellow paper lanterns on the branch. It looked so cool that I decided to keep the branch in the can! It's been sitting on my desk since. I did paint the branch white a month or so ago, but that was the end of it. Until yesterday! I was browsing etsy and saw some REALLY CUTE paper birds. Totally fell in love with them. I feel guilty about it, but instead of purchasing the really cute birds, I sketched one and made my own. Teeny budget plus way too much scrapbook paper equals DO IT MYSELF. This way it matches better too LOL So I made 6 really cute birds yesterday, with plenty of glitter and rhinestones (which of course you can't see in the pics...). Today I got around to decoupaging the can with the same papers I used to make the birds. Added some lace, buttons and silk flowers. And, since the branch was still a little on the bare side, I made some round medallions too. I stamped images with StazOn and then used my water pen and Stampin' Up! ink pads to color the images. I also stamped stuff on the back of each medallion. I SERIOUSLY LOVE the way it turned out! Isn't it great when something works out the way you want it to? :)

Spring!

Guess who I found hiding in my grass today?


I first noticed him (or her LOL) when I saw an adult American Robin yanking on a REALLY BIG WORM. The robin would grab onto the worm and jump, trying to get this monster worm out of the ground. It took several jumps before he got the whole worm. Then he fed it to this little guy. So of course, I had to go out and investigate (after waiting a while...)!

He was so very patient to let me get pictures of him! He didn't even blink!

I decided while I was out roaming the yard, I might as well get a few pictures of the few flowers LOL

First, the plum trees, which are EVERYWHERE. We have at least 4 different types of plums growing in our yard (they were here when we bought the house, and they have SPREAD). Fortunately, the kids love to eat them. Well, not the little red ones, they're too bitter LOL

While photographing the plums, I noticed some more little birdie friends. These are Chipping Sparrows. I haven't seen them in my yard for years. So nice of them to come visit! You can tell when they're around, because they sound like a cheap cordless phone LOL

Then I noticed this little guy! I've never seen a House Wren in my yard! Isn't he cute? So tiny!

Next, on to the light purple lilacs...

How did you get there? He was much too close to the very FULL irrigation ditch, so I chased him into the bushes.

Is this a honeysuckle? I'm not sure. But apparently I have at least 2 of these bushes in my yard LOL

These are the sweetest little purple flowers. I have no idea what they are, but they grow in big swathes.

Most of the forsythia blossoms were blown off in the big windstorm we had the other night. But there are a few lingering...

The quince bush, my favorite flowers in our yard. I wish it could bloom all year! Last year I ended up with a LOT of quince fruit, but I never did figure out how to use them, so the kids have been using them as substitute balls this spring. Hummingbirds and orioles LOVE this bush. And I love watching them!

The neighbors have some beautiful tulips in the woody strip between our houses. Can't you smell the fresh rain on those mint flowers?

There is a grassy strip between the woody area and our driveway. In the early spring it is FULL of grape hyacinths. It's so beautiful that people who are driving by will stop to admire them. But by now, most of the hyacinths are done blooming.

Daddy robin is checking up on baby...

The neighbor's tree. Isn't it pretty? It's a favorite perching spot for the robins.

Now for my dark purple lilac. I cut a bunch of these for my house today, and I'll be taking them for Memorial Day on Monday. Spring is the scent of lilacs.

I'm going to admit a deep, dark secret now. Dandelions are one of my most favorite flowers ever! Who couldn't love a flower that blooms no matter what, no matter where, and that you can pick as many as you want and never run out? And they're such a happy color!

This is the other reason I love dandelions... Wish flowers! Limitless numbers of wishes! This is what wish flowers look like when it rains, kind of spikey LOL

Well, that's a little of my yard! See you next time!