What my backyard could be

I am so lucky to have a house with a big backyard that is green and pretty to look at.  

I had to show you this only because my dog did some "pruning" to my crepe myrtle tree, I guess he thought it was too big so he ate half of it!  And we just won't talk about him chewing through the natural gas hose to the bbq, it was on at the time.
Yes, we still have a dog!

I got one of these for Mother's Day last year.

My dream backyard would be like an english garden, with some retro thrown in.

 

All the outdoor furniture etc. is found at Restoration Hardware.

Wow, isn't that a beautiful garden, but I think I'll stick to what I've got going and wait to see what it becomes. 

Making your own bias tape

So, so many years ago I learned how to make my own bias tape from a cut of fabric.  Cool, good to know and I'll always remember how to do it, right!!!  Well, it's all a lie, I didn't remember how to do it but Jona at Stop Staring just reminded me how so if you're interested, have a peek.

Pop top presents

 Aren't these cute! I'm always looking for a lil' somethin' to give away and this a one of those somethin's.  Our Best Bites did it for Mother's Day but what a grand teacher present or visiting teacher present or just a present, fill it with just the right thing and there you have it, the recipient will love it.  I'm going to make some and fill them with chocolate.  

My Kona vacation

So this was my first time to Hawaii, we stayed on the Kona coast of the Big Island and boy was it a big beautiful island!  My two daughters and I spent seven fun filled days checking out the sights and relaxing in between.  We made flower leis, took a helicopter flight over an active volcano, toured the macadamia chocolate factory (mmmmmmm), zip lined and that was just a part of it.  So much fun, thank you Hawaii!

  Yummy tasty salad from Bongo Bens in Kailua, Kona.

Delaney and Macy posing by our hotel.

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This is a gecko and the joke is don't talk to him or he'll try and sell you insurance (if you are familiar with Geiko Insurance you'll think that's funny).  These little green guys were everywhere.

Our new friends we met on the Paradise Helicopter tour, Hi Phillip and Caroline!

The only time I was afraid on the helicopter was when we were over the lava, I got to sit up front beside the pilot and I could see all around me.  I wasn't very brave at that point!!

 We had a marvelous time!

I'm on my way to Kona for a bit of a holiday so goodbye for now my peeps, I'll see you in a week! . Aloha!

Painted mason jars

These are so pretty aren't they?  Liz Marie makes an old mason jar look beautiful. 

My hatpin collection

When I was little I was fascinated by my grandma's hatpin collection, how did those long sharp ornate things hold a hat on your head, it would be impossible, the wind would blow off your hat then you'd be poked with the pointy end of the hatpin!
 I'm older now and my grandma is gone,
 I now have and love the hatpin collection for my own.

I remember going visiting with her to my great aunt's,  the house smelled old and antique, she had framed pictures of people with no smiles and lots of clothes, there was fancy dark furniture that smelled old and a chair that was stuffed with horse hair, she was my grandfather's sister and since my grandfather had passed away long before I was born,
that made her really, really old (she did however make the best Cornflake Cake in the world).
Returning to my grandma's house, it never smelled old or antique,
just like Nana's house that's all. 

 I would spend hours looking through her drawers of stuff and with it came really important questions like "Did the sun shine when you were a little girl?"  

Of course it did.

It's funny how I now love and appreciate old, antique things like hatpin collections and musty old furniture.  I think I'll make an okay Nana one day.

Aunt Ila's Cornflake Cake

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

1/2 cup corn syrup

Bring to a boil for 1 minute, no longer.

Add 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

1tsp. vanilla

Mix well.

Add 2 cups each Cornflakes and Cheerios. Mix everything together.

Press into greased 8x8 pan, let set till cooled then cut into squares.

Pretty in pink baby shower

Saturday I hosted a pretty pink baby shower for my friend Amanda, she's having her first baby really soon, I mean really, really soon!  Here's to a happy healthy baby Adaline!  

  I used lots of ideas I've found on blogs, the pink circle garland is one of my favorites.

While I'm at it, happy baby Brody to my friend Hillary who became a second time mommy on 

Mother's Day morning, what a wonderful present!  

Happy Mother's Day

I got to make the Mother's Day treats for all the women at church today,  I think they turned out really cute and I got to use my divine twine, finally!  Here they are...

Thanks also to the nice lady at Michael's who looked "outside the box"

when I was buying the pretty pink paper!  If you've read Leadership and Self-Deception

then you'll know what I'm referring to.  

Happy Mother's Day to my fellow bloggers!

Uses for packing peanuts

So I read this article today about what to do with your leftover packing peanuts, I just assumed it would be a good read and give me some grand ideas, I think a man wrote it!

"Fridge Magnets: Glue packing peanuts on magnets and use with push pins to tack the grocery list and other notes to the door of the fridge."
Me -I say, why not just use the magnet to attach the note and leave the packing peanuts in the box. 


"Deck the Halls: String up multi-colored packing peanuts instead of old-fashioned popcorn and cranberries for some festive yuletide decorations." 
Me -Not at my house!


"Floating Key Chain: Thread a few packing peanuts on your key chain if you're going boating or to the beach."
Me -Maybe don't cause your friends will laugh at you!

So there you go, packing peanuts are meant for packing, only!

Homemade caramels

I was browsing through my favorite blogs today and I happened upon this caramel recipe on the Giverslog.

I've made homemade caramels once, it was actually very time consuming fun to do, 

so fun in fact I paid my friend to make them for me again the next time.  But really 

who doesn't love caramels. 

   I made regular caramels and black licorice caramels then wrapped them in parchment paper just right (cause that's the way I am) 

and put a small handful (cause that's all you need when they're wrapped) in super cute containers,

 then I favored my friends with them.  I think they liked me. 

 I like how she cut hers in long strips, that's what I'll do next time, because darn it, there will be a next time!

My new clothesline

Even as I begin writing this, I take a slow deep breath, eyes closed, smile on my face.  

I'm blogging today about my new clothesline.  Are you as happy as I am, cause I'm really happy! 

 I want to do laundry just so I can hang it outside, it smells soooo good and I feel...

like it's Earth Day every day.  Hey, I try to do my part and hand carry my purchases from Marshalls,

 but this, this is a whole new experience.

Actually I only hang the towels and dish cloths outside because my daughter would be mortified 

if I hung her "dainties" for the neighbors to see.  It's also a question whether or not 

to hang darks outside because our hot California sun would completely 

bleach the heck out of them.  So I'm left with going through the clean laundry 

and picking out the towels and tossing the rest in the dryer (now that's okay when you

 only have a few things to put in the dryer, takes less energy to dry a small load, right?)

Question #1:  How do you get your towels soft after drying them on the clothesline?

Question #2: Does it really matter?

If you look hard you can see my pink plastic flamingo peeking through the towels in the last picture,

 one of my latest acquisitions from Target. 

(I think it scares the gardener though)

Doily cupcake wraps

I know there are fancy machines out there that cut out fancy cupcake wraps and there are fancy stores that sell them too, but I just found a great pattern to make my own at a fraction of the cost, 8/$1.00!

paperorchid.com 

     

At Free Pretty Things for You she shows you how to make her own version of this wrap, have a peek, it's all about the cupcake these days, mmmmm! (there's no calories if you just look!)