The Gardens

 One of my favorite things, in this beautiful wide world, is to travel, explore, spend time outside. And who better to share it with than my Man and our four monkeys (and this time, my sister and her two monkeys, too!)

A BEAVER, y'all!

I found a leaf to match my belt!

more melted crayon art

Dancing in the Rain

Like my other crayon art here , we just peeled crayons and ran them straight through our mini glue gun. It's so fast and easy!

On Wednesday evening, we had our often-celebrated Sister Night. After doing some shopping together, we dined at The Pressroom.

YUM. The food and wine were so very delicious.

We did a little posing, too. ;)

me and Julie

The three of us were all born within 3 1/2 years. I know that must've been hard for my parents when we were little, but it sure is nice now!

Amy and me

I love my sisters!

Good News!

In case you didn't already get the news from me directly, or on facebook tonight--
Amy got her kidney scan review back and all signs point to her being healthy, and there is no reason for concern. The small lump of tissue is just that and not anything to be worried about!!
No more cancer!
Thank you all for your prayers.
Her surgery this morning went well, no complications. She is at home now, tired, and has plenty of pain meds. Recovery period of 6 weeks - no lifting, which will be hard when this little guy is around...

Again, thank you for your prayers.

I often take our health for granted, until something major comes up.

Love you, Amers!

Stenciled Skirt

I bought this awesome gray t-shirt fabric skirt at a yard sale, even though it was two sizes too big. Wish I'd taken a before picture.
I cut the strips shorter, so it would fall just below my knee, tightened up the waist band, and decided to stencil black leaf patterns on the fabric folds.

Love, love it. It works with heels or knee-high black boots. I'm afraid I would look much too short wearing this style with flats.
Proof that you can stencil almost anything!

Yep, just wearing knee-high black flowered socks in this picture.
Pictures courtesy of my 9-year old NatureMan. Thanks, kid.

Modge Podge Shoes!

When I get serious about an evening refocus (from preoccupied, tired house-pick-up to BaBoom Craft Rejuvenation!) I don't waste much time. :-D

I saw modge podged SHOES here at Modge Podge Rocks, and dashed to my closet to find a suitable pair for experimentation. Flats might have worked better, but these were all I could come up with, on short notice.
Once upon a time, I wore these pumps with my navy sailor-type dress. As you can see, though, the toes were wearing out.


I simply grabbed some material, cut it slightly larger than I needed (semi-followed these steps at Make It & Love It, except that I had to cut separate pieces for the toes and heels) and thickly modge podged it on.

The shoes are a bit stiffer than I expected, but should wear in fairly soon (actually, in these pictures, the outside wasn't even completely dry-- should've waited just a bit longer, and I need to take my exacto knife around the edges, for a smoother finish.)


Best of all, I used OUTDOOR modge podge, so they'll be suitable for things like this...




Well, kinda suitable.

I do almost anything in a skirt and heels... remember the horseback riding pictures? ;-)



Yay! I feel the juices flowing again. Quick, hand me some paints! Send me some links, share some ideas! Get your craft on!

Turn tights into knee or thigh highs

I've been coming across the most adorable girl tights, but always in the wrong size for The Artist or my little niece.

Sooo, I decided to MAKE them work.
These were 12-month tights, but I was quite sure that the sock part would fit my 2-year old niece Scarlett, so I decided to simply turn them into thigh-highs. (Future Plan: If the sock part doesn't work, I'd just cut it off, and turn them into leg warmers. Same concept.)
(side notes: 1- you can click on any photo to enlarge it & 2- I'm quite sure there are other, more detailed and exact tutorials out there for this, so feel free to search around if the idea is new to you and you need more help!)
Step 1: Cut off the legs of the tights, straight across the top, as pictured.

Cut an even number of hearts, any size and shape, from the leftover top section.
None of my tutorials are exact. Deal with it. Get creative. Make it your own. Or go somewhere else for help. Just don't give up before exploring the possibilities! :-)
Step 2: Turn the stocking inside out. Now fold the top edge of the stocking down. Sew elastic (hand or machine) along the inside folded part of the stocking (which is now out facing you.) Try not to stretch the stocking at all, as you sew.

Turn stockings right-side-out. Next layer the hearts up the side of each stocking (the side that will be facing out to the world) and sew straight through the middle of them.

You're done!

It REALLY is that easy, the only part that might be tough at first is to make sure you're not stretching the sock while you stitch around the cuff. Also, a small zigzag stitch seems to work best since it has a bit of give to it.

Isn't she adorable??

Check out the other great ideas at...
The Persimmon Perch Made It Monday and

What am I making now?

Retro reversible aprons! To be listed soon!

I have matching headscarves and purses in the works as well.

Super easy, fast, shirt-saving fun!

Refashioned shirt

Liked the shirt. Didn't like the stains on the sleeves. And how many t-shirts does one girl need? Better question: how many things can one girl do with t-shirts?

I started by getting scissor happy. Sleeves, be gone! Then I haphazardly cut off the neckline as well. Who needs a neckline? Remember, I'm not going for perfection, I'm just going for "cute!"

This isn't the best tutorial, so just bear with me and fill in the blanks with mental pictures. You can do it!! (Hear me cheer you on?)

Turn the shirt inside-out and sew up the open sides, where the sleeves were. Just sew straight down from the top.

Next step has no pictures. Sorry, I get rollin' and forget about the camera.
Measure above your bust with a cord of elastic. Cut as much as you need. Now, with the shirt still inside out, just turn the fabric under slightly (baby hem, as I call it) and sew along that hem all the way around. Then stick your elastic on that, fold down again, and sew right under where the elastic is, to make a casing for it. Yeah, yeah, I know you technically should fold, fold, sew, and thread elastic through. But who has time for that, when shortcuts work just as well. Even great seamstresses, like my Mimi, will tell you that. (And when someone experienced suggests sewing tips, I never look back!)
What do you think? A cute 'lil "tube top," still very modest. I paired it with athletic shorts and my new jean apron. I'm setting new fashion trends. :-)

If you adore the front design of a shirt, but it's too large, just take in the sides first. Or, if the shirt is too small to start with, you could cut the sides apart & sew strips of coordinating fabric in between, to give it more width.
I'm not pinching my sides, really. I'm merely trying to hide my chipping red fingernail polish. ;-)

Imagine the possibilities!

I'm perfectly biased!

Do you ever start a project, and it comes together so perfectly that you become giddy??
Squuuueeeeeeal!! (That's me being giddy and excited.)

Why?
Don't laugh.
I found the perfect bias tape.
There. I said it.

The best part? It's for a project that I had stopped working on, due to not having the "YES!" lace and other accessories. Plus I snagged two packages of this bias tape for a quarter at a sale the other day. Lookie! See the fabric I was using? And the "new" yard sale bias tape? They are a perfect match! Fun, fun!


And so the fun continues. Which buttons??? Hmmmm....
I went with Mary Englebreit buttons and white hearts for the bib. And lots of lace. Lots. Which I also bought at the yard sale.

(Thank you, non-sewer-person. Hmph. Sewer? Seamstress. Yeah. I need to go to bed soon.)

So, after all the hemming and bias, lace, buttons...now it is DONE! This is my favorite one so far. And the most work.
Uh. I AM wearing clothes under that apron, just so you know. It was hot today. I had on athletic shorts and a tank top. Really.
Check out the other things people have made at Everything Etsy.