I know this is bright ...
Stay with me :)
Monday, July 28, 2014
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Garden Shed Redecorating ~ Day 2 and 3
Well they say you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet...
a request to hubs to 'fix the screen door' resulted in not only the removal of the screen door but the winching and jacking up of the entire shed to level it, saving three baby chickadees from Ethel, the installation of new trim around the door, an hour of 'ozonation' with some machine he had to kill mold and a day to air it all out after that...ah, yeah.
I'm off to the paint store tomorrow...thanks, love.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Summer Crafts and Cooking ~ Week 3
Sophie was away at camp and on a little road trip over the past week so we just made one delightful dessert before she left. These chocolate cookie peanut butter cup 'stacks' were rich but delicious!!
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| Ingredients: 1 package chocolate cookies (we used oreos) 12 small peanut butter cups fondue chocolate |
* twist open the cookies (use the frosted sides of two cookies as the 'sandwich')
* place one peanut butter cup in the frosting and top with the other side of the cookie.
* dip in melted fondue chocolate
* let chocolate sandwiches set in the fridge until after dinner!
She's back and we are ready to create again today!
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Day 1 - Garden Shed Redecorating Project
Day 1
Ethel and I spent a couple of hours yesterday in my garden shed taking some 'before' photos, inspecting and assessing its condition, necessary repairs, what to keep and what to toss (ok, I did most of the work while she sniffed the corners and scratched the table legs and rake handles).
The 'Befores'
A good sweeping to clear out all the webs, garden soil and pine needles ensued along with stacking everything off to one side...this weekend, the plan is to thoroughly clean all the walls and ceiling, scrape loose paint and toss/recycle anything not going back in.
I might have bought a yellow pillow today...but you'll have to wait to see that :)
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
My Garden Shed and Fresh Inspiration
About 10 or 12 years ago, hubs built me the most delightful garden shed. I've LOVED it and spent hours there potting, reading, writing and enjoying my garden. You can see some pics from this post in 2009 ( http://wildwomanjewelry.blogspot.ca/2009/06/garden-shed.html ).
In the last couple of years, I've kind of let it go, using it mostly to store garden furniture, tools and empty pots for the winter. Hubs says it looks rustic. I say it looks like one flower box fell off the window. It's been such a mess and needed such a thorough clean up (read LOTS of time!) that I've just given it a lick and a polish in the spring and kept the door closed.
But I've missed it.
Fast forward to this past weekend...we took our annual jaunt to Bar Harbor (which was lovely and full of its notable quaint seaside charm!). Saturday morning we walked down to the pier after breakfast to enjoy the water, boats and watch some local lobster fishermen setting out for the day. At one point I noticed a shingled building I hadn't seen before (we've visited for 24 years in a row and I notice these things :)... anyway, it was lovely and we wandered down to have a closer look.
It was a new section of one of the hotels that included several charming little shingled 'sheds' that were colorfully painted and gorgeous with overflowing window boxes. Housed within were unique shops selling beautiful art, home décor and linens, and every manner of beautiful seaside decorative items.
I was giddy...
so giddy I forgot to take pictures.
And I was excited! Flooded with inspiration and enthusiasm, I thought of my own little neglected shed! I've already been to the paint store for a stack of color samples... and if I wasn't raining today and I didn't have orders I have to fill, I'd be out there right NOW!!!
My head is full of ideas for cleaning, updating, tossing, furniture, decorating, painting...and I'll post all the before and afters if you want to follow along!
Stay tuned!
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Hippie Kitty
Ethel is Miss Personality!
This colorful braided yarn string was too short for
my ukulele strap and had become my girl's
favorite toy accessory!
She cracks me up!
Monday, July 7, 2014
Summer Crafts and Cooking ~ Week 2
This week's projects included making these fun rainbow pictures with melted crayons and chocolate cake 'ice cream' cupcakes.
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| Crayon Rainbows 1 small art canvas I box crayons hairdryer glue gun glue sticks |
Crayon Art
Fun and so easy! Line up the crayons along one edge of the canvas and then using a hot glue gun, glue each in place. Stand the canvas and heat crayons with the medium/high setting on your hair dryer. We recommend covering your work surface with plastic or newspaper because the wax splattered a bit before we got the hang of melting the crayons :) Sophie hung hers in the Bunkie and mine is on my desk in my office - they are so colorful!!
The hotter setting melted the crayons much more quickly and resulted in this cool mixed rainbow effect. Also, Sophie grouped her colors together so the brights really make a gorgeous impact!
"Ice Cream Cone" Dessert
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| Baked 'Ice Cream' Cupcakes 1 chocolate cake mix 1 can frosting cupcake papers muffin pan 1 box ice cream cones |
Line the muffin pan with the paper liners. Mix up the cake mix as per the instructions on the box and pour batter into the little cups. Place cones right in the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes...check with a clean wooden pick to be sure they are finished. It took longer than we thought it would :)
Remove from the oven and let cool. Frost and decorate as desired. They were a bit messy but yummy and everyone loved them for dessert!
We've got great plans for this week ... and yes, chocolate is involved.
happy summer
xo
Saturday, July 5, 2014
New Sparklies!
Lots of pretties for birthdays, special occasions or just for fun!
The orange are sunstone which are
in the shop for the first time - such a great color!
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Summer Crafts and Cooking - Week 1
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| Ingredients and Supplies 1 box of fondue chocolate 4 bananas 1 box of Smarties strawberries paper straws |
When I was a kid, we spent summers at the cottage. I went armed with more ideas, kits and supplies for summer projects than the local craft store had on the shelves. My niece, Sophie, who spends her summers here at the lake as well, is the same. The only difference is the main component of anything she is interested in is primarily chocolate. She has been scouring Pinterest and Instagram for DIY projects for us to tackle throughout this summer. We've been selecting two at a time (can you guess which one she picked?) and this week's choices were chocolate covered bananas (hint: do NOT freeze these) and colorful glow jars.
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| Supplies 6 small canning jars 2 packages of glow sticks glitter |
They were both simple and fun to make!
Chocolate Covered Bananas - Melt the chocolate in the microwave following the instructions on the box. Insert the paper straw in the banana and swirl it around in the melted chocolate. Decorate with candy or sprinkles. We set them on a plate and found placing them in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes cools them but doesn't make the bananas mushy - YUM! We finished off the chocolate on some fresh strawberries! Our second project (my choice because I thought if they worked out, they would make a cool summer table centerpiece) was these pretty little glow jars. Simply cut open the glow sticks (the package says they are non-toxic but we were careful not to spill them as they will stain your work surface) and pour the contents in the jar. We used two in each jar for lots of color. There is a little glass tube inside the stick so be sure not to break it until you put the cap on the jar. Add glitter in the colors of your choice, cap the jar and give it a good shake. Here is a little video so you can see what happens~ it's a hoot! I'm definitely going to make more for our next outdoor BBQ!
Have fun and I'll let you know about the next two creations!
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
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