Jelly Bean Topiary

Today my friend Chris came over to drink coffee, chat, eat jelly beans, laugh, and get her craft on.  You might remember me mentioning her.  She's the brilliant one who thought it was a good idea to take a picture of me working on my pillow.  You can read about that here.

I decided to work on a craft that I saw over at Little Miss Penny Wenny.    If you haven't been to her blog, you must check her out.  She has a blog that is worth visiting.  If you drop by, please leave her some love and tell her I sent you.

Here's my jelly bean topiary that I made today.  Please note, there were a few casualties in the making of this craft (not all of the jelly beans survived).

Isn't it cute??  There was some recycling going on with this project too.  The base, stick, ribbon, and glittery area at the top of the stick were all part of a Valentine's Day decoration.  That is until my 2 year got a hold of it.  The top used to be a really pretty pink heart (styrofoam covered in pink glitter/sequins).  Yeah, used to be.....until he leveled it.  But, it's all good now. 

Here's what I used to make it.

I started gluing a row of jelly beans down the center of the styrofoam ball (purchased at Hobby Lobby).  I did this twice for symmetry.  Then once more before I began randomly filling in the rest.

I tried to find pastel colored jelly beans but Meijer just wasn't having it.  With a 2 year old in tow you're kind of on borrowed time; all the time.  LOL 

So there you have it.  That's what I did today.  What did you do??

Kaye

And the Winner Is................

So I haven't figured out how to insert the random number generator (help anyone?) so I just copy/cut/pasted it below.  There were only 3 entrants and #3 is

Shauna! 

 

Congratulations Shauna, I'll be bringing you your shells tomorrow!

 

 

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 3 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Thanks for stopping by!

Kaye

Leibster Blog Award

This blogging thing is so fun and slightly addicting!!  Everyone is so nice, like Jennifer over at Musings of a Crafty Mom.  She picked my blog for one of the Leibster Blog Award!!!  Thanks Jennifer, so nice of you! 

This award was created for bloggers who have fewer than 300 followers, but still put a lot of love and heart into their work. It is given to bring light to new blogs and it's a great way to share blogs that might not otherwise be seen or ones you want to share with others.

As a recipient you must share the love and pay it forward by:

1-Creating a post where you blog about the Liebster award and reveal your 3-5 blog picks.

2-Let them know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog.

3-Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.

4-Have faith that your followers will rally and show their crafty love back out to those you awarded this to.

5-Have fun!

3-5 of my favorite blogs; that's hard.  I have many but here are some:

Scrappin Rabbit Designs

Little Miss Penny Wenny

Okie Chic

Salt Box in the Country

Go check them out and leave a comment; we were all newbies at one time or another!

Thanks Jennifer!

Kaye

Miss Mustard Seed's Give Away

You've heard me talk about Miss Mustard Seed's blog.  Well, she's having a give away and you could a win $100 gift card from card rescue.  What a GREAT give away.  If you're interested in entering, go here.

Good Luck.

Kaye

Miss Mustard Seed

The Beach's Bounty............

Today I was going through the "treasures" I brought back with me from Anna Maria Island, FL.  I hadn't planned on posting today but after gazing at my "stuff" I thought, why not?

I LOVE shells.  I mean LOVE shells.  Every vacation I go on, you can find me strolling the beach with my plastic Wal-mart bag, or whatever will hold my finds, collecting shells and sanddollars.  Here's what I found.

The shells on the left I picked up on the beach of Anna Maria Island (on the Gulf side) and the shells on the right I picked up on the beach in Vero Beach (on the Atlantic side).  It's amazing the differences in the shells.  The ones on the Gulf side are prettier, more colorful and seem more delicate, whereas the ones from the Atlantic side are bigger, thicker and the colors are more neutral.

The Gulfside.

The Atlantic side.

There were many shops on the island selling shells, starfish, and sanddollars.  I couldn't resist. 

Check them out.

It seems you can buy them everywhere.  The sugar-starfish (the three orange ones in the middle) came from Walgreen's Drug Store.  LOL

Did you notice the two large starfish have a blue hue to them?  I bought them in a gift shop for not a lot of money.  If they had more, I would've bought them too.  Some is good so more must be better, no?  The color is a greyish blue that reminds me of colors Miss Mustard seed uses to paint furniture.  I love Miss Mustard seed's blog.  If you haven't been there you have to check out her latest project here.

Aren't they great?

While were were there, my friend's Mom and Dad babysat the kids while we went out for a nice dinner.  Her Mom always has a craft lined up for the kids and this is what they made.

The kids glued shells (that we collected on the beach), starfish, sanddollars, even a sea horse to a frame.  Then they colored the shells with colored pencils.  The the next day she took all the kids to the Welcome to Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island sign and took each of their pictures in front of it.  Here is Jacquelyne's.  Carson was taking a nap, he's only 2.

I haven't decided what I am going to do with all this loveliness but I sure will have a good time displaying the stuff all over my house. 

Hey, I have a great idea; how about a giveaway?  Leave a comment on this post and I will select a winner via one of the random counters I've read about all over blogland (if I can figure out how to use one of them).  The prize will be a goodie bag of things pictured in this post.  I'm new to blogging so your chances of winning will probably be really good.  Giveaway will end on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 6 p.m.

GOOD LUCK

Kaye

Pillow

Do you remember my first blog post, when I ran material through our new printer?  If you don't, you can read about it here.  The part where I say, don't tell my husband.....yeah that part definitely still stands.  (wink-wink)

I finished the pillow today (hear that?  They're cheering for me).  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I learned a lot and I can honestly say, it really wasn't rocket science!!!  Here it is.

Not bad, eh??  Ok, if you insist.  Here is  another picture......

I bought this amazing ribbon at Hobby Lobby.  It's dark brown and it has already been run through a ruffler.  I saw it and fell in love.  It couldn't have been a deep-seeded love because I didn't buy enough to finish the pillow.  No worries though, after my friend Melissa saw the ribbon she went straight to HL and bought some.  So she generously gave me some.  Thank you.

I worked on the  piece I ran through the printer the day I spent with my crafting friends, earlier this month.  Like a greenhorn-blogger, I forgot my camera but thankfully my friend Chris had a great idea:  take a picture of me working on my pillow!!! Dah.

Here's that part finished.

Today I sewed the front and back together.

Again, here it is in all its fabulousness.

LOVE it.

Now go send some material through your printer, I won't tell your husband!!

Kaye

I'm party-hopping today with my pillow!  Go check out these blogs!!

My backyard Eden

http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/

Restore Interiors

Beyond the Picket Fence

Fireflies and Jellybeans

Somewhat Simple



Anna Maria Island, Florida

Ok, it's true.  I haven't been blogging because I've been on vacation down on Anna Maria Island, Florida.  It's at the end of Longboat Key on the Gulf.

The only reason I am blogging is to tell you the story about my "toe".  We got on the island on Saturday.  On Sunday, I was getting some snacks together to take out to the pool.  I dropped an 8 oz. bottle of water on my toe.  My left big toe.  Insant pain I tell ya!  I got some ice and sat on the floor in the kitchen for a long time with my "toe" in the air and ice on it.  It would not stop throbbing.  Instantly I could see the blood pooling under the nail.  I can take a lot of pain people, I've birthed two children au naturale even when the second one was breach. 

I went to a walk-in clinic.  They all treated me like I was a little dramatic but were happy to take me and my insurance card.  The nurse practitioner did a couple things to decide if they were going to burn a hole in the nail to relieve the pressure.  Then they took x-rays and nothing was broken.  What they did find was an osteochondroma, which is a benin cartlidge growth, on the bone of my big toe.  That's what was hurting.  Here is a picture of what it looks like today, Friday.

You cannot buy a pedicure like that, I tell ya! They gave me a Lortab for the pain.  After 25 minutes of no difference I asked when I could expect relief.  They said in 10 - 15 minutes.  This is NOT

good.  They sent me on my way with a prescription for Lortab, but since I didn't get relief from the one in the clinic, I opted for writing my own prescription:  a Blue Moon every 10 minutes.  LOL

I spent the rest of the week in flip-flops.  I do not do flip-flops well.  I was a gimp the whole week.  This morning, I decided to go for a wonderful, relaxing hot rock massage since we have to leave tomorrow. 

I had a complete consultation with the licensed massage therapist, clearly discussing and showing the "toe" at length, with/to her.  STAY AWAY FROM THE "TOE"!!  It took me a while to get relaxed because I was certain she would bump into the "toe" at some point.  She did not.  I was relieved.  Half way through the massage I was relaxed.  Then it happened.  She grabbed the "toe".  You would've thought the "toe" was attached to a pulley-system the way I shot straight up on that table.  The pain was beyond words, literally, no sound came out of my mouth.  I couldn't believe she literally grabbed the "toe".  What was she thinking??!?!!?

The worst part was she didn't even say sorry.  All she said was, "I'll be more careful."  I'm like lady, how can you be more careful.  Did you miss the visual discussion of the "toe" when I came in???  Out of my mind.  So I'll have to get a refill on the prescription I wrote for myself.......................

I'll be back with a real post in a couple days.......

Kaye

Mosaic Sled

I'm going to show you a project that my daughter's 1st grade class did for the school's silent auction.  I had an old Radio Flyer sled in my garage; truth be told I had two of them (I told you I like "stuff").  Anyway, I had my husband cut a template out of Hardie Board, which is similar to cement board/green board, and mounted it in place of the three pieces of wood that used to be the seat. 

Then I went to everyone's favorite store, Hobby Lobby, and bought some Polystone letters to spell WELCOME.  They were out of the letter "C" but they assured me they would probably be on the truck that was coming in on Thursday and to check back Friday.  I was in a bit of a panic as time was running out.  I could purchase the "O" and cut it with my wet saw but what if these letters were hollow???  Then what would I fill it in with?  More panic set in.  There were large Polystone letters right by the small ones at HL, one was broken, and I could see it was hollow.  I asked the manager to call two other HL stores but they too were out of the letter "C".  So what's going on that requires the letter "C" people!!!  Fess up!!!

I had to punt.  I bought the "O" and cut it.

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, it was solid!!!  The letters were gold, so I painted them black, glued them onto the Hardie board with liquid nails and took the sled to school.  I buttered up the Hardie board with liquid nails and let the kids put on pieces of white stained glass.  It was sooooo cute and they were so excited to take part in the class project.



I also added a border and grouted the sled.  I then took it back to school and took pictures of the kids with the sled.  They were SO excited to see what they created!  It was awesome!  So without further a due, here it is.

Sorry my pictures aren't fabulous but if you click on them, you can get a closer look.  I wasn't going for such a rustic look but I think it's kind of cute.  I hope it brings in some $$ for the auction.  Most of all I enjoyed working with the 1st graders.  They were so excited.  I cannot tell you how excited.

Kaye

Chance to Win a Personalized Stamp!!!

Hi everyone,

My friend Melissa over at Disney Dreamer Designs is giving away some blog candy!!!  It's a personalized self-inking stamp by Lisa at Stamp Out Online.

This stamp is really nice and Lisa is great to work with.  I ordered one for my sister-in-law's business and she loved it!

Who doesn't love free??  Melissa also has many other giveaways going on so go check her out! 

Kaye

Disney Dreamer Designs

A cute jar........

This is a cute project I created for some crafting friends.  I hope they're not reading this right now because I am getting together with them on Sunday.  We like "containers" and I'm especially fond of canning jars.  It was super easy and I think it turned out pretty cute.

 I think the picture is self explanatory although the glue isn't pictured.  I used Weldbond because I had it and it dries clear.  Here's what I used:



I traced around the lid onto the back of a piece of material; green with brown polka-dots because who doesn't like polka-dots?  Then I did the same with 3 pieces of cotton batting but I cut the first circle small enough to fit into the sunken part of the lid leaving the metal rim exposed.  I then cut the next two circles slightly smaller than the previous one and glued them onto the lid, stacking them as I glued.  I cut slits into the edge of the material and did this around the entire circle.  This was to avoid "puckering"; sewing term I picked up to make myself sound smart. wink-wink.  I put a bead of Weldbond around the metal rim (next to the cotton batting circles) and popped the ring over the top and screwed it lightly onto the jar to dry over night.

The next day I unscrewed the lid and trimmed any material that was hanging over.  Be careful not to put the lid on the jar too tight; you don't want the material to come unglued from the lid.  You can put anything in these cute containers.  Here are some more pictures.

Cute, huh?  I like "stuff".  You'd think I was a scrapbooker but I'm not.

I just love me some "stuff", don't you?  LOL  Isn't that pink heart the cutest thing?  It's a pin and my friend Ahsley made it.  She and her Mom gave me most of this "stuff" at our last crafting session.  Yes, crafting session is a real term.  Ashley has a shop on Etsy and as soon as I find out the name of her shop, I'll let you know.  Her shop is called Tulmno.  You should see all the cute stuff she creates with felt.

Go check her out!

Kaye

Tulmno

                            



Just a Girl

Slipcover for a Resin Chair

I am not a sewer although I wish I could say that I was.  Sewers have their own language.  It's true.  I've read the patterns and I haven't a clue!  But, I am happy to say I made a slip cover for this cheap, white, resin/plastic chair.  You probably have some; the ones that do not come clean no matter how hard you scrub?  Yeah, that's them. 

This is how she looked before she got her new party dress.  Actually, this is one of four chairs that used to be my diningroom chairs when I was in college.  I think I bought them at Rite-Aid for $4.99 each.  I know, big spender.  Here she is now!!

Ok, if you insist, here's another picture.

We never have enough seating in our back yard during the summer.  Someone drops by and we're scrambling to get these chairs out of the garage and scrubbed down.  The stains are so bad our guests still look at us with doubt in their eyes, even though they just witnessed me scrubbing it down like my life depended on it.  But not this summer.  No ah-ah.  I'll be ready. 

Here's a picture of  the Kwik Sew pattern I used.

I'm linking up to some parties today; my chair has a new dress!!

Kaye

Blue Cricket Design

Restore Interiors

Fireflies and Jellybeans

Just a Girl 

Don't tell my husband....................

Ok, I've done it.  I've started my blog.  My husband doesn't know it (yet) so don't tell him!  wink-wink.  All he knows is I read and follow a lot of blogs!  =)  That being said, let the games begin! 

I have many projects in the works but who knows when I'll complete any of them to post a before and after!  So I will start by sending material through my printer.  Again, do not tell my husband!  LOL  I've read about it all over blogland and would you believe it really works?!!??!  I did it and I have the picture to show you!  It's simply fabulous.

I got the fantastic ephemera from The Graphics Fairy.  What amazing stuff she has!!!  Go check her out! 

I cut a piece of cotton utility cloth (I washed it then ironed it) the size of a piece of paper, 8 1/2 x 11.  I sprayed a piece of cardstock with spray adhesive and then put the piece of material on it.  I loaded it in the print tray, material face down, and hit print (I set it to print landscape).

Can you say "LOVE"??  I think I'll make a throw pillow like Kelli at Restore Interiors. 

Now, go try it!

Kaye