backyard happiness

Hi friends, it's been awhile! Funny how time just flies by and three months have passed since you've last looked at your blog. Life is good, but super busy!

And most days you can find me in the backyard, enjoying all the pretty things that are blooming. And of course totally neglecting anything that needs done on the inside of my house!

YOLO

You only live once!

That's what all the teenagers have been saying lately, at least the ones that hang out at my house! It's my new mantra and I'm going to use it everyday this summer. That's my excuse for the inside of the house. Too many things to do outside, please excuse the inside for the next three months!

I went a little crazy with pots this year, but I really like how it turned out! 

                 

Really loving this petunia! Such a pretty color combination!

I'm looking for a weather vane for the shed, I would love to find an old one!

My new favorite purchase from  5 Below. Yep, it was $5 and it is perfect for relaxing!

This is how we hide our pool equipment, We trash-picked this fence!! I love how this turned out!

My simple little garden. Can not wait for the first tomato!!!

Hope you are having a perfectly relaxing summer and enjoying the beauty in your backyard!

happy things

pink, sparkly  mixer found at Georgetown Cupcake in Soho.....  pure awesomeness

making your teenage daughter smile ....the power of cupcakes

a fantastic family day in NYC and successfully navigating the subway system , my proudest moment

asian translations.......tasty dumpling, gotta love that 

flower power

I've been gettin' my craft on these last few days..........makin' flowers! I love it! It's quick and easy and I have something pretty to show for it when I'm done. And now I can start collecting fabric, one more thing to add to my craft room! I found this great tutorial on Pinterest.

 

 I think this one is my favorite. I picked up this great scrap pack of fabric at Hobby Lobby because I loved the blues and greens. Will definitely try this with some other color combinations.

 

I plan on decorating my thirty-one bag with these flowers. When I bought my bag, my consultant gave me the cute little thirty-one  flower. Sadly,  I lost it within the first week. I clipped it to my bag instead of pinning it. My bad!

 

 

The flower above and below is made with the t-shirt material. It was great to work with.

 

The flower below was made with a very silky material that looked more like the original thirty-one flower. But it was much trickier to work with.

Can't wait to start my fabric collection!

I think these flowers would look great on pillows too. Just need to learn to sew!

2 ingredients

 

 Are you asking yourself, then why did she post a picture with 3 ingredients? I'll tell you why,  the original Hungry Girl 

recipe only called for Devil's Food Cake mix and a can of pumpkin

but I was being a rebel and adding white chocolate chips because who doesn't love white chocolate chips mixed into their devil's food and pumpkin muffin! Simple and delicious! Remember a few months ago when Beth started this pumpkin craze, well who knew that you can add a can of pumpkin to anything and it turns out pretty good!

They are not the prettiest looking muffins but do you really care?

Enjoy!

before & after

 Yea! First project of 2012....... done! The table and chairs above were a wedding present from my parents almost 22 years ago (thanks mom & dad). It has served us well! It was a quality piece of furniture just not the most comfortable thing to sit on for any length of time. I knew we would keep the table but it was time for some new chairs.

One evening I was browsing the Pier 1 website and stumbled upon these slipcovers, fell in love and the rest is history! I bought one slipcover,  came home and discovered that all the colors worked perfectly with my kitchen. All the stars must have been aligned properly because I was able to match the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint almost perfectly with the blue in the slipcover. The color is Provence and I love it! I need to find more places to use this color.

Now, just need to scotch guard the fabric chairs so I don't drive my kids crazy about "sticky hands" and decide if I want to distress the legs on the table. Then it's on to the next project!

What is your first project for 2012?

after 21 years

 

21 years of sitting at the same kitchen table and chairs and I'm done! It is time for a new look!

I finally got my hands on the much talked about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!!! There are exactly two places in the state of Pennsylvania that sell this paint, luckily I'm within a 45 minute drive to the cutest little shop that sells it! And,  I am lucky to have a husband that doesn't mind a little road trip in the pouring rain to buy a quart of paint!

  

 

Of course if you decide to paint your kitchen table you will have to get new chairs.

  

 (actually, it was the chair or I should say the slipcover that started this whole make-over!)

I wonder what will come next? I think I hear that ugly vinyl floor whispering "please replace me, please replace me". I sure hope my husband is getting that same message!

And of course now the window treatments in the breakfast nook need updating. We currently have a broken cellular shade, it either must stay all the way down or you rig it up like we have with rubber bands...classy!!

I'd like to try the woven wood shades this time if I can ever decide on a sample that I like! Have I told you before that I've become really bad at making decisions! Way too many choices make my brain completely shut down. Could someone just please pick one for me!

  

I just had to test out the paint as soon as I got home, here's a little peek. Hope to get this finished before 

 2012!

 

 Does one little project have the snowball effect at your house too?

Friday Night in the Cul-De-Sac Craft Room

 

Ahhhhh, Friday night and there is no place I'd rather be than my favorite seat in the house .

Tonight's project ............ gift tags

Using one of my favorite Christmas stamp sets and shipping tags from Staples.

   I love these tags, I use them all the time.

 

Now that I'm looking at these tags on my computer screen, I think I'm going to go and ink the edges of the tag to give it a more finished look.

 

I stared at this project for awhile, that's about as far as I got. There is a knack for designing bracelets and I don't have it. I just love pretty beads.

Major task for today was addressing the Christmas cards, happy to say mission accomplished and they are going in the mail on Monday!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!