Salsa

Zephy grew a garden this year and planted 3 tomato plants for Scott (he is the only one who likes them).  Those 3 little plants went crazy! Scott would go out there and eat them off the vine like apples. I had a fridge full.  They were going off faster than we could use them so I picked them all and made up a big batch of fruit salsa.  We like it poured over chicken or fish then baked in the oven. So yummy!

more pots

ready to smash my printer for jamming up all that wax paper for transfers I thought surely my stampin' up would work just as well.  Yep! I like it even better.  I tried one in black ink but didn't like the way it showed up on my cream pot so finished the rest in brown. Love the leaves! Not sure I want to sell them! they are just too cute!

Another transfer idea.

I had seen Pottery Barn had these cute little white pots 1,2,3 for something close to $30 for the set.  Thinking "I could do that" I went to my stash and found all these brand new little clay pots I had been collecting at garage sales thinking the kids would make a craft with them.  So for 25 cents each I gave them some left over paint and printed out my transfer added some varnish and Tada! 75cents as opposed to $30! not bad! Then I saw the image for the cute vintage clock and thought I would give that a try.

Playing around with transfer

I read a blog where you can transfer any image from the computer to wood by printing it on wax paper.  Sounds easy.  Not so much! The transfer part is easy enough but have you ever tried to run wax paper through your printer?  So after messing around with bare wood I thought I would see how it went with painted wood.  So I went out to our woodpile and found this piece of left over 1x6. I printed the vintage turkey then found a nice Thanksgiving saying to go along with him.  distressed the whole thing of course and it's not too bad! P.S. the saying is "Thanksgiving was never ment to be spent on a single day"

Chalkboard signs

I picked a bunch of these easle things up at a garage sale for 10cents each.  Still need to spray them black.  Then I scored these cute little picture frames at a yard sale for 25 cents each. They had a reddish wood tone to them which you can see showing through so I just added black spray paint and distressed and painted the glass with chalkboard paint.  Now I have cute little (and they are little!) signs to use for labeling food or drink at our next BBQ! And all for less than 50 cents each!

New dresser

Forgot to take a before photo of the whole thing so here is the drawers.  I picked this up at a yard sale for $10. Good solid wood dresser but the inside was yucky and someone had done a poor job on trying to use a stain paint.  The knobs where cute though.

So I spent $6 on paint for the outside as well as inside the drawers to cover whatever yucky that was and a little country chick distressing an whalla! My new set of drawers!

4th of July

The 4th was pretty low key for us but we did go up to our friends on the hill and watch the town light off their money...I mean fireworks.  Zeph made this American flag treat as a snack.

Easter

another online idea we tried was resurection roles.  You place a large marshmellow representing Christ pure and white in dough and add butter and spices like how they annointed his body and prepaired him. Then into the oven (tomb) and when they come out there is nothing in the cloth. Cool demonstration to go with the Easter story but didn't taste as good as I thought they would.  Either way the gils enjoyed both making them and eating them!

Sheradia made birds nests to give away to the neighbors as Easter treats!

Helpful finds

This was my pintest inspiration.  I love the idea of doing this in the bathroom as well or inside the kitchen sink. Still plan on doing that.  But for now we have one in the coat closet for flashlights and spare camera cords and batteries and things. and this one in the pantry.

These ar $5 at walmart and are for your shoes but LOVE them for this! This is the kids lunch making station.  They make their own lunches for School and can clearly see what they can take for juice boxes or their 'unhealthy' snack choice.  although there are the fruit cups also kept here but most of the healthy coices are in the fruit basket on the counter or in the fridge.  We also store packets of gum, chocolate and popcorn.

Another pinterest idea.  I picked these frames up at a discount store for around $5 each. They are 8x10's and the girls picked their favorite scrapbook paper and typed out daily lists.  Sheradia did hers in a time frame (3:30-3:45 afterschool snack....3:45-4:00 daily chore).  Zeph did hers in check list style.  Love this! I no longer have to remind them to do things or ask if things have been done. I or they can just look at the list and see what they should be doing.  They use dry erase markers on the glass to check off what has been done or add if they need a reminder of one off things then start freash the next day.  Over summer they were able to print out new lists as their scheduals changed.

Thank you Pinterest!

I have a new addiction! Pinterest! This was my inspiration from pintest.

 This is what I came up with.  Found this pair at an antique store for $40.  A little spendy but I was eager to get started on this idea.  So Scott replaced a couple broken panes for me and I sprayed it black then gave it that antique white paint and distressed. Then added my favorite B&W family photos against some scrapbook paper and done! This hangs in our dinning room with the sign above that reads 'BLESSINGS the love of a family is one of Life's greatest blessings.'

This one I found at a garage sale for $5! A steal! I loved the finish just as it was.  All those colors showing through.  So I just gave it a light sand to remove the dirt and flaking paint and glue dotted the photos right to the glass.  This one hangs in our family room and is my favorite!

advent quilt

I made this for my Sister-in-law and their family in New Zealand as our kids love doing this sort of thing for advent.  It came as a panel and I just added boarders and a little quilting.

I attatched beads and buttons to hook the ornaments on which I fused with felt.

This is what it looks like with all the ornaments on it.

cards

A card I made for my mom with gift card holder inside. and a couple others.

Fun Jar

We have a hard time thinking on the spot when Scott comes home of a fun family thing we want to do.  So I made this jar that has slips of paper attatched and we can write ideas or things we would like to do down.  Then when Scott comes home and we draw a blank we can pull one from the jar. 

A gift for a friend.