Keeping Pinning, But Do More

At first I thought, I should pin less and do more...

but then I thought...

nah...

continuing to pin excessive amounts of projects, but doing more with what I pin

was more fun.

 

So I started with my mug exchange mug. 

Inspired by A Beautiful Mess, I added a quote to a classic white mug.

Just a sharpie and a quick bake in oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

It works as long as you hand wash the mug.

A fun way to jazz up and personalize a simple piece.

Inspired by One Perfect Day, we made salt paintings.

I followed the directions in the comment section of the pin and used food coloring...

after going to her blog I realized that her paintings were much more vibrant in color when she used water color paints.  We may have to try this one again with water colors instead of food coloring.

Inspired by HGTV, we made bird feeders.

We just used bird food instead of oats, raisins, and sunflower seeds...

the easier the better for this momma.

For this one I pinned a cute idea where someone (the link to the original source was incorrect) used a tension shower rod and curtains between a crib and a wall to create a unique little reading or play space.

We didn't really have a good space in Girlfriend's room to make this idea work,

but simply adding the tension shower rod and curtains to the outside of her bedroom door added a grand feel to a regular old bedroom door.

Such a whimsical addition with items we already had in our linen closet.

My Mug Exchange Mug

I.am.so.in.love. 

What a happy way to enjoy a cup of coffee?!

Needed A Change

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Garden Food: Refrigerator Pickles and Zucchini Muffins

Inspired by Little Bit Funky and acquiring some fabulous cucumbers from my sistah, Melissa...I decided to make some Refrigerator Pickles! 

Click on over to Little Bit Funky for the ingredients and directions!

And don't miss out because these things are amazing!

I was also gifted with 8 gigantic zucchini...

so I decided some chocolatey, cinnamony muffins were in order.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1.5 cups grated zucchini

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 to 1 cup mini chocolate chips

cinnamon and sugar for topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl whisk flour, sugars, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a medium bowl combine zucchini, eggs, vanilla, chocolate chips and oil.  Stir well.  Then gently stir in flour mixture.

Fill lined muffin tins about 3/4 fill and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy! 

Insta Friday

I have really sucked at blogging lately.

I know.

 It's hard in the summer.

 I get so busy doing things that I don't have time (energy/motivation) to blog about them.

 

Then so much time goes by I wonder how much time is too much time to let pass 

and still blog something...

like when you don't tell a friend they have something in their teeth right away...

if you wait too long it's like you missed your window...and gets awkward.

You know exactly what I mean here...right?

Whatever.

I've lost my blogging momentum.

Hopefully it will come back with the normalcy and routine of the school year.

I am craving that normalcy and routine lately.

That's my M.O.

Love the heck out of a season the first 3/4 of it,

then I'm over it and ready to move on the last quarter of it.

Right now Fall and school can't get here fast enough.

Let's catch up via Instagram pics like we are BFF's and all this time hasn't passed.

We all know how I have a love affair with the Farmer's Market every year.

But it is just that much better when you discover the vintage soda stand.

Ice cold soda and kettle corn are what summer is all about.

Girlfriend went to a princess dance camp with a good friend.

I truly can't get over a kid in dance attire.

She looks so innocent and sweet...which is hilarious because she is actually

really loud and bold 

and tends to plow into things like a bulldozer rather than a graceful ballerina.

AJ, Brody, and I hiked The Rock while Abby danced her little heart out at dance camp.

It was fun to just have some time with the boys, and it was a good little hike for a kid.

I survived the 90 degree weather with a 20 pound baby strapped to my chest. 

Then we picked up cousin Taylor from the airport.

That girl has a special place in all of our hearts.

We went to my fave fabric store, and she picked out these fabulous fabrics for her first quilt.

Love that she has a passion to learn to sew and quilt.

That girl is already such a positive force in this world.

She is smart, compassionate, driven, responsible.

She looks at a situation and jumps in where she can be most helpful without being asked.

She pays attention to detail.

She sets her mind to something and goes after it with such conviction.

She values family connections.

She has an adventurous spirit balanced with wise intuition.

She loves to have fun and works hard.

She is going to rock a successful life.

We could be sisters with these identical smiles.

We went to the Carnival when she was here.

We do not miss the Carnival.

It's a summer must every year.

We all dressed like cows for a free lunch at Chick-Fil-A with good friends.

We were quite the herd.

It wasn't crazy at all with 5 adults and 7 kids dressed like cows at lunch hour.

We celebrated AJ's 6th birthday with a Lego party.

If you are local, I have an amazing cake lady.

Email me for her info.

We may have rented a gigantic inflatable water slide with an obstacle course that was as tall as our house and barely fit in our backyard.

Go big or go home...right? 

We may have broken all the rules going down it after the kids left.

I may have bruises all down my right leg as a result.

The adults may have had as much fun as the kids.

mahaha

We went up to Winter Park...

rode the alpine slide, climbed a rock wall, saw beautiful waterfalls, 

and bought two pounds of salt water taffy.

Then we loaded the kids up in the swagger wagon and drove nearly 11 hours 

through Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas to Oklahoma.

Oooook-la-ho-ma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains!!!!

I can't say Oklahoma with belting out those lyrics.

In Oklahoma (where the wind comes sweeping down the plains)

it is like 5,000 degrees every day, all day...

so we went swimming 

a lot

and drank some cold Oklahoma dessert wine.

We ate amazing Mexican food 

and drank Sangria Margaritas as big as my head.

AJ lost one of his front teeth.

We went to Medicine Park, ate fried pickles & cheese sticks,

swam in the lake...river...green water, and indulged in some fabulous homemade ice cream...

because it is 5,000 degrees there all the time.

We went to museums at Fort Sill.

We drove up Mt. Scott.

We had some more dessert wine and the mustaches came out.

Then we loaded back up in the swagger wagon and drove home.

Where Andy surprised me with this fabulous treat!

Then I started freaking out that school is closing in on us 

and went out and got school supplies, school clothes, and new tennis shoes for the year.

Dang.  Starting school is expensive.

Theses were on the supply list as far as I am concerned.

If you are a coconut and chocolate fan add them to your grocery list now.

You can thank me later.

Oh and my kid that couldn't make the /th/ sound with his front teeth lost his other front tooth.

Tote Tutorial

Hello friends! Let's make something awesome today! This is a great beginners sewing project. First you need to pick 3 coordinating fabrics. Two for the exterior and one for the interior and strap. You need 1/2 yard of each of these fabrics. I like a thicker, longer strap, so I usually get more of the fabric I am going to use for the interior and lining. It is totally up to you.

Next you need to wash and iron your fabrics.

After you have washed and ironed your fabric,
fold them with selvage edges together,
line up your ruler on the bottom of the fold and trim the sides in a nice straight line.
This is necessary because fabric is usually not cut perfectly straight.

Now for your exterior base you will need to cut one 15 x 13 inch rectangle.
This piece will be folded to make the bottom, outside part of your tote.

For the top exterior, you need to cut two 9 x 13 inch rectangles.

For the interior lining you will need to cut one 13 x 31 inch rectangle.
I cut it 13 inches wide and then fold it and cut it at 15.5 on the fold to make 31 inches when unfolded.

This is what it will look like after you cut your fabric and lay it out.

Now you need to sew one of the top exterior pieces to one side of the bottom exterior pieces along the 13 inch sides.
You will use a 1/2 inch seam allowance.
Make sure you have right side to right side of your fabrics.
Press your seams open.  I just use my finger nail to press this seam.

To give your bag a more finished and professional look, you can top stitch 1/8th along each side of your seam.

You will now repeat the previous two steps on the other side of your exterior bottom and top pieces, so that when you fold it in half both sides of the exterior part of the bag are finished.

Now fold it in half with right sides together.
You will want to line up your seams and pin so that when you sew the front the to back the contrasting fabrics line up nicely.
I pin at these seams and then work my way up pinning and down pinning from these seams.

When you sew your exterior bag together start at the bottom where your exterior base is folded.
Remember to stitch a couple stitches forward, then backward to reinforce that initial stitching.

Now you will take your lining fabric and fold it in half with right sides together,
and stitch it together on both sides just like you did with your exterior fabrics.

For your strap, you need to choose how long you would like your strap to be and then cut it that length x 8 inches wide.
From here, you need to fold it in half long ways (hot dog style) and iron it so that it has a nice, crisp crease down the middle.
After you have done that, open your fabric up and fold one side into where it meets with the crease you just made and iron it along the new fold.
Then you do the same thing on the opposite side.
Last, you fold it right down the middle at the initial crease so that you have a two inch strap.

While you are by the iron go ahead and use your seam gauge to fold the top of your lining down 1/2 and inch and iron all the way around the top with the wrong side of your fabric still facing out.
Do the same thing with the top of your exterior bag.

Sew both sides of your strap together at 1/8th an inch.

Turn the exterior of your bag right side out, but leave your lining wrong side out.
Slip your lining into your exterior bag and shake it a bit to get it to fit together nicely.

Slip one end of your strap about one inch down in between the exterior bag and and the lining, and pin it.  Do this on both sides, making sure not to twist your strap.

From here pull your bag nice and tight as you pin the lining and exterior bag together.
I always start pinning from the middle and work my way out.
This step is important to ensure that you do not have a pucker when you sew the exterior and lining together.  Be patient and pull your fabrics to help them line up nicely.

Starting at a strap sew 1/4 inch down.
I always sew across my strap, back stitch, and then sew across my strap again just to reinforce it since it will feel that most stress as you carry items in your bag.
Pull your bag tight as you sew this part to avoid getting a pucker on the exterior part of your bag.

Then do the same thing with a 1/8th inch seam allowance.

And there you have it!  A lovely tote perfect for magazines, notebooks, and all your goods!
Easy, peasy lemon squeezey!