I wandered into the local thrift store late last week and it was 50% off all furniture that day. I found this King Size headboard and paid $5. Right now, I call our Master Bedroom the dorm room b/c it is a hodgepodge of mismatched furniture, and we have NO headboard. I think this has some serious potential in either white or maybe even something more fun like blue, or green? If that goes totally wrong, it will make a terrific, heavy base for an upholstered headboard, right? Always working the Plan B, I am.
And then I saw this chair. It came home with me for $6. I only wish there had been two with arms b/c a pair would be even more splendid. I already purchased black spray paint for this one and I plan to get some black and white fabric for the seat cover, maybe a toile.
We had friends over to swim at lunch on Monday so the muffin tins came out for dinner and were brought to the girls by the letter P.
Popcorn Pink Lemonade Peaches Pineapple Pudding Pasta (Mac N Cheese)
My girls have started to tell others about muffin tin monday which is quite confusing to the unsuspecting human trying to figure out what the heck they are talking about!
and a new blog banner! I totally lifted this idea from one of my favorite blogs:NDG. I will absolutely admit I like hers far better than my own but I used what I had to make a reasonable knock off. To create mine, since I organize my digi scrap supplies in Picasa, I simply searched for the products I wanted to use by these keywords:
stars grid rwb
I knew, or hoped, I had used keywords such as these OR that the actual product description included them. Lucky for me, many items came up and I just plopped down the ones I liked. I simply the cut the paper into the shapes to fill the grids. I did not make a list of the products I used (sorry!) but most were from 2008 kits.
I feel like there were more clever and unique things found online this week than ever before! Here is a short list of what caught my eye:
Sunday Showcase
MeritMarket--I love both the coasters and camera accessories LuLuBug Jewelry-colored concrete + sterling silver=amazing NDG...from my house--I told you I love her, and now she has an etsy shop. Joy!
Earlier, the girls and I took Skipper the dog for his first visit to PetsMart. Yes, he did pee on the floor :( But, he is also signed up for Puppy class beginning July 7. Bring it on!
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Both girls have attended vacation bible school this week. These are from their final program today.
After that, we went to a small water play area at a county park with Mason, their cousin. It was h o t but fun. They came home and swam again for a few hours and inhaled loads of pizza and cheesesticks for dinner.
Currently, they are camped out on the sofa watching Princess Protection Program on Disney and Mason is spending the night. Big doings.
We have swam a ton and on Tuesday we saw the Hannah Montana movie. Last night, they played at an inflatable playland called Jump Zone.
If you run across any Mother of the Year ballots, be sure to fill my name in. And while you are at it, send a housekeeper this way.
Kids love 'em. They will get in and out of the pool a million times if you let them.
Yesterday, my youngest finally worked up the courage to jump off on her own. I was indoors at the time and when I came out, her father instructed her to show me, which she did. I said: hold on, let me get the camera! And to that she replied: I have already done it 16 times.
So I waited until today to capture this on film, er, card. Whatever.
Here's Olivia, a diving board alumnae.
And Mr. Mason who is visiting today and has just an awesome canonball form, huh? Look at that air?!
Good thing we swam early b/c right now the sky is dark and the thunder is rolling.
I wrote about this last month, but today, I visited the shop. Patty, the store owner, could not have been nicer and more proud of her store and her products. She is living her dream and it shows! Awesome. Speaking of awesome...the cupcake I sampled was divine. Holy Moly. It was a white cupcake with raspberry filling and the most delicious raspberry frosting of ALL TIME. Visions of the other flavors are running through my head, calling to me to drive back up the road tomorrow and taste another! Check out their website or even better, visit the store! Patty says she has customers from all over the city and after tasting that cupcake today, I totally understand why.
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While browsing etsy for some birthday gifts (or gift ideas) I decided to type in "iphone" as that is my current, way cool, totally time consuming, gadget of choice. How about this ultra clever idea of surrounding your phone in ribbon?! That is brought to you by this seller.
And then you have this designer with just a boatload of choices and great fabrics too!
This one appears to be a special order: but is a wow, huh?? You can find that seller here.
and I leave you with this: . An iphone holder made from a patchwork of fabrics. So my two joys in combination: quilting and computing. Find that seller here.
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Ok, I stuck to this plan for a second week in a row. Can you guess the theme of the food?
Yes, circles! My kids are still quite intrigued by this concept and without me ever saying so, assumed it meant you had to empty each hole/opening which equals better eaters at lunch time.
I am obviously taking the VERY low tech approach here but it's working and is fun. My circle shaped foods included:
sandwich cut into a circle
cheese cut into a circle
one marshmallow
cheese balls
oreos a round cup full of juice (pretty much a no brainer there, but I don't have many cups that will fit in the slot)
(shown before baking)
And for dinner, I prepared these enticing enchiladas. I portioned 5 in this dish for tonight of which we ate three total, so a yummy lunch is in my future. I put the remaining four in a freezer container for a later date. Recipe:
Enticing Enchiladas
1 lb. ground chuck
1 small onion, chopped
1 c. cream style cottage cheese (small curd)
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped green chiles (optional, I omit this)
10 6 inch flour tortillas
2 c. shredded Mexican Cheese blend
COOK ground chuck and onion in a large skillet over high heat, stirring until beef crumbles and meat is no longer pink; drain.Return to skillet, stir in cottage cheese.
PROCESS diced tomatoes and tomato sauce in a food processor until smooth.Stir in chopped chiles if desired.
SPOON 2 to 3 tbs. ground beef mixture down the center of each tortilla; top each w/ 2 tbs. tomato mixture and 1.5 tbs. cheese.Roll up tortillas and place seam side down in lightly greased 13x9 baking dish.Pour remaining tomato mixture over top, top with remaining cheese.
BAKE enchiladas at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly.
So, it may not be traditional but today we went to the River Downs race track to celebrate Father's Day.
Shelby won $10 on the first race. (A responsible adult bet on her behalf).
But Miss Kacie, on the right, won $114 on the first race. This is them returning from the window and announcing the grand total to us. She was the big winner by a TON in our group. I won exactly nothing.
Here is the first race underway. Cool. The temperature on the other hand...HOT and HUMID.
And here we have Skipper the Dog. He seems to be tolerating the heat OK and it does nothing to slow him down. Honestly, this guy is part Energizer bunny. He hops like one too.
For as much as a nuisance as he can be, doesn't he look so cute and innocent here? By the way, he is a malti-poo. Lots of people ask.
The $99 iPhone. What a thing of beauty! I had been tossing the idea around since the price came down but in the back of my mind, I really wanted to apply my Best Buy gift card from my Bday. Today, Shelby and I went in there and lo and behold, they sell iPhones! I got one, a case and screen protector for the out of pocket price of $4.84.
Now please excuse me while I get to know my new friend better...
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I have yet to share this here but a very dear friend, one of my very best friends of all time, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Although I think about her often and have made phone calls, sent cards, emails...I still feel powerless. I am always looking for that something to do, to help. This may not be huge, and it may not filter down to her specifically, but it is something I feel strongly about and it gives me a very measurable way to help. The We R Storytellers digital scrapbooking website is offering a huge, wonderful kit....iHOPE...and all the proceeds are going to help fight breast cancer. Read about their efforts here, and please, if you digi scrapbook, make this purchase. Or, if you don't but you blog, or twitter or use facebook...share it there. Thanks!
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(photos taken from other blogs, you can see they range from fancy to not so much but still clever!)
I start off the summer all inspired and full of ideas. This is a new one for 2009: Muffin Tin Mondays. That links you to blog where it all began (as far as I can tell). But there are groups on flickr and many other moms/bloggers who dedicate time to this. Today, we returned from Olivia's first day of Art Camp, and out of the cupboard came my two (disposable, purchased for 90 cents) muffin tins. I announced my plan and the girls pretty much embraced it. Already ideas were circulating for Tea Party Tuesday, and something else for Wednesday, I cannot remember. I want to milk the novelty, not wear it out this week, so I might have to put them off a bit.
Here is another creative one: everything begins with B. I might be able to pull an idea like this off. If it continues to go well, I might upgrade to better pans :)
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I just completed making this Cheesy Mostaccioli for tomorrow night's dinner. I bought garlic bread and fixin's for a salad and I'm calling it done. I know some of my family is coming to visit and that should feed whatever crowd materializes. Hopefully that affords me some pool time, lounging time and maybe even sewing time!
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So my good friend Carla posted her successful attempt at sun flare recently and I thought "hmm, that is something I'd really like to try" and took it no further b/c I had no idea how to make it happen.
So today, it is dreary nearly all day but around about 5p, the sun starts shining like mad and I grab my camera and give it a shot. I got lots of horrible ones. Fortunately, I started with flowers. My flare (bright blob) seems to be in the same place in all my pics, not sure how to remedy that. If you know, and leave me a comment, I will buy you a beer. (Okay, not really but if you know and can help a girl out, I sure would appreciate it.) Back to my sun flare photos...I got a few happy accidents that I am pleased with. Below are the afters and befores. The left is after some photoshop tweaking, also courtesy of the Pioneer Woman. In my mind, I am her friend. I am sure of her umpteen bizillion readers, she considers me one of her closest friends too.
I laid it out in my backyard yesterday. I am pretty shocked it is to this point. I mean, it actually looks like something!
The fabrics are a mix of vintage (old sheets: yellows) and new (greys and blues from Hobby Lobby). My working option for a back right now is a butter yellow king size sheet that I have on hand, and for some reason, came out of the dryer a few weeks ago with a tear about 1 foot long?? I only discovered this after removing it from the bed a week later, a bed that my husband had made (rare, RARE thing to happen). I asked him about it and he simply said it was like that. Hmm? To his credit, he put the tear at the foot of the bed, on his side, which is why it took me another week to notice.
Alright, back to the coin quilt...because I have this large yellow piece of fabric available, I figure I might as well use it. I hope to add a strip of coins somewhere on the back too. I already bought yellow/white polka dot fabric for the binding. Typing this out makes it all sound so simple, but in reality, this quilting business is a slow go.
Also on my plate today...contemplating an Iphone purchase. That new $99 price has me tempted...BIG TIME.
Well, today while browsing at Big Lots (I say that with PRIDE) I came upon an endcap full of Martha Stewart stuff and many items were from this line of wedding gear that I used for the First Communion party. I picked up at set of 6 more lanterns for $2 and a strand of lit mini eyelet lanterns for another $2. I saved nearly everything from this party anyway, so now it will definitely be making a return. If those little lit lanterns are cute, I may go back and snag the rest. I am not sure what I paid originally for the 3 eyelet lanterns but it was more like $20 and less like $2! I love a bargain.
Here's some good stuff I have seen and sampled locally in the recent past.
First, the Acapulco restaurant by me has face painting (free but a donation is suggested) on Thursday nights. The woman there does a really great, fancy job. Lots of full face butterflies, sharks and other great creations. Above, is Olivia about 24 hours later...so she had slept on hers and swam but with her face above water...and it still looks pretty darned good. Thursday was her last day of school so she wanted to get her face painted and not have to wash it off for school the next day. Check.
After that dinner, we attended the Frontiers Day parade. That is good old fashioned fun and the best treat is watching it through your kids' eyes. They get all giggly about batons being thrown, dogs wearing tutus spinning in circles and seeing kids they know marching in a troop or team uniform.
Oh, working out of order, on Wednesday I had lunch at Padrinos. Total yum. I will say, the salads are a bit skimpy for the price but the pizza more than makes up for it. I shared the Bruschetta pizza and it was so delicious.
Last night, Dave and I had dinner with old friends at Eddie Merlot's. Wow, good stuff. The place has a cool, casual vibe and top notch food. Not inexpensive so I suggest it for a celebration. We all shared lobster mashed potatoes. Isn't that just a crazy thing? Tasty. Very tasty. And then for dessert the 4 of us shared this brownie that the server brought table side and assembled in front of us. She poured liquor down the length of a butter knife and lit it on fire as it covered the brownie. Serious entertainment. I am having difficulty remembering but there were 2-3 more toppings after that. It was so over the top, we did not even finish it! I wish I had a forkful of it right now though.
Geez, is it any wonder my pants are all too tight? I did a lot of eating out this week.
First, I am so super proud of myself b/c I made it all in one night, one sitting in fact. The Alicia Paulson, pellon suggestion worked so well. I mis-measured, as per my usual, and it still turned out ok. One row of squares hung over the edge of my pellon on one end but one 1/2 of each block was on the pellon, so it still worked out fine. Also, the finished patchworked piece was a wee too small for my pillow form, so I added a 1.5" border of linen all the way around and I love it!
Ironing all 16 squares down and then sewing, does cut a lot of time off of the project. No picture of the back but I followed these instructions on Sparkle Power so the innards are removable.
I absolutely love this fabric. The one downside, it matches not one thing in my house. But really, I don't care : )
And then I saw this chair. It came home with me for $6. I only wish there had been two with arms b/c a pair would be even more splendid. I already purchased black spray paint for this one and I plan to get some black and white fabric for the seat cover, maybe a toile.
