Hair today....

....Gone tomorrow!

I haven't cut my hair since I got sick in August. {As in not even a trim!} It was getting really and I was dying to have it cut. Especially since the temps have been near 100 lately. I was hoping to be able to donate it again like I did 2 years ago, but with a wedding at the end of the month I decided I didn't want to risk it. Ended up cutting off about 8 inches. I think its going to take a little while to get used to short hair again, but we both love it!

P.S. I am NOT loving the affect Prednisone is having on my cheeks and weight....yeah gotta work on that!

Botanical Gardens Date

Roderick and I love to take a walk through our local botanical gardens. {So much so that we decided to splurge on a year long pass!} Thankfully there is lots of trees for shade on a hot day. There's nothing quite like taking a slow stroll through a gorgeous garden with your Honey. Life has been too busy and this was just the "date" we needed!
Here's a few pics of our most recent trip:

{Loving all the different varieties of  hydrangeas - my favorite flower and the Columbine's that remind us of "home" -Colorado's state flower}.

Beach Project #3 - {Tee shirt update}

 

I'm just getting to posting one of my final projects at the beach in March. My niece needed a shirt for their family pictures on the beach and we couldn't find anything to match. The only thing close was a plain adult women's shirt in XS. It fit okay, but it was plain and way too long. I figured if Make it Love it can update shirts I could at least try it as well. A little lose stitch to make a ruffle and rosette and this is the result. (I found instructions for creating a ruffle on Make it Love it, but I can't find it now. She just did an website update so I'm hoping it will show up on her sewing tips page soon so I can post the link here.)

{Before}                                                    {After}
Even though the stitching is far from perfect there is something so satisfying about creating something yourself! Hope this inspires you as well. I'm a very novice sewer so if I can do it anyone can!!

Isn't my niece beautiful! And her photographer Aunt (my sister) did a great job capturing the pictures for me too!

{The headband was another beach project that  was again inspired by Make it and Love it. So easy and fun!}

Strawberries + Nutella = Delicious!

There's not much better than freshly picked strawberries straight from the field....but add in a little nuttela and wowsers. The flavor is amazing!

One of my friends put this as link on facebook on Monday and I decided I had to make them. I went out today and picked a bucket full of fresh strawberries. Wowsers these are good! and I was not disappointed. Head over to Two Peas and their Pod for the delcious recipe. You'll be glad you did!

P.S. It's amazing how the Lord already had me plan to make these treats today. Today my husband came home from class and informed me he'd like to bring in breakfast for class tomorrow. Yep, I already had it covered!

Its Strawberry Season!

There's not much better than freshly picked strawberries that you collected yourself. I love living in an area that they are so plentiful. This year we tried our hand at some freezer jam. The recipe we used was on the box of pectin and was SO easy!

This is actually the second time I've made this pie in the last month. I love how easy and simple it is. Plus its not over the top sweet. Just right for my taste buds!

Here's the recipe: (Taken from a Farm Fresh advertisement book which I picked up for the coupons. Double bonus since this recipe is SO good!)

Strawberry and Cream Pie

1 deep dish pie crust

1/2 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
16 oz fresh strawberries, cut in half

Prepare pie crust according to empty baked crust package directions; cool. In medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla; mix with electric mixer until well combined and smooth.

Add in whipped topping and continue mixing until well combined and fluffy. Spread into cooled pie crust.

Top with Strawberries cut side down. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*Note: I've always doubled the recipe. Most of the ingredients are cut in half so its "easier" that way. Haven't tried it yet because I'm lazy, but I think that it would be even more delicious with a homemade crust. But then again I think almost everything's better homemade!

Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy picking some fresh strawberries if they are ripe in your area!

P.S. If you were interested in the chalkboard labels I posted about in my last post (which was almost a month ago!! Opps.), they are today's GroupDealz again! $4 for 4! Looks like you still have a couple of days to jump on the deal if you are interested. We love ours!!

*Pictures courtesy of GroupDealz

House Party, Spring Decor, and a Giveaway

The weekend before Easter we were able to host a Johnsonville House Party. Ever heard of House Party? It's a new concept that gives companies advertisement in a new and very FUN way. If you are chosen you get a box full of goodies to serve at the party, plus lots of coupons. I've signed up for several, but this is only the second one I've been chosen to host. (The other was a Betty Crocker Christmas cookie party over a year ago.)

Since it was right before Easter I went with an Easter theme. We ate my own creation Italian Sausage Penne' and Kristen's Penne' Rustica. Both were delicious! We eat quite a bit of Italian Sausage around here so this party was right up my alley. They even sent some Summer sausage and sausage bites to try out. We used them as an easy appetizer.

They also sent a nice big oven mitt, apron and spaghetti scoop that became our door prize. Everyone left with a couple of coupons, one of them for a FREE product. Which brings me to the giveaway. Not everyone I invited was able to attend so I still have a few coupons for the a FREE package of Johnsonville Chicken Sausage left. I will send them out or give them to the first 7 people that comment. Please leave your e-mail address so I can find out where to send them! I have yet to see them in my stores, but the coupon doesn't expire until September. I'm told they are at Walmart, but I NEVER go there. (Have I mentioned my disdain for that store on the blog before??? If not then I was say that coupons have allowed me to avoid the store almost completely for a year. Loving it!!!)

Thanks Johnsonville for allowing us to host such a fun get together!

GroupDealz

There seems to be a plethora of new daily deals sites lately. I've joined several Groupon, Livingsocial, DealPulp, and Eversave to name a few. Although I have bought a few things from these sites, my favorite deals site is one I found in the past couple of months through Make it and Love it. It's called GroupDealz and mainly features homemade things...things you would often find on etsy, but at discounted prices. I've only bought one item, but believe me there have been several that have been tempting!

Here's what I purchased several weeks ago:

Chalkboard vinyl labels

I've been wanting labels for my canisters for awhile. Even tried hand painting something on there, but didn't like how it turned out. (Plus it scraped off with the gentlest bump!) I love that I can change up the wording or colors and even take the vinyl off all together when I feel the urge. They came in the mail days after ordering and I didn't have to pay shipping! (Some of the deals you pay shipping, others are free, but they are all detailed with exactly how much you'll end up paying.)

Here's a couple of resent deals that I LOVED:

Linen Ruffle Necklaces from Pretty Things By Meg - $12 regular $20

(Yesterday's deal, but I believe its still available.)

3 pairs of Rosette earrings (your choice of color) from Oh So Sweet Petite - $10 regular $20

(Today's deal. I would totally be going for these if my ears were still pierced!)

I'm all for supporting small businesses and I love handcrafted items. Many of the items I've seen would be great gifts for Christmas or birthday's. If 3 people purchase from my link I will get $5 off a deal, but that wasn't my main motivation. (Most of the referral programs are actually a lot better than this!) I really like supporting small businesses and I've really liked some of the items I'm seeing. Hope you enjoy looking at the deals, maybe getting inspiration for a creation of your own or finding the "perfect" gift for someone on your list.

P.S. Most of the sites I mentioned do give you $5 to $10 to spend on your first deal when you sign up! Plus I do get a little myself when you purchase your first deal if you go through my link.(Shameless plug!) The extra $'s off have made for some pretty sweet deals! I was even able to purchase one deal for free after the $'s off! It's like using coupons on-line.  Here's the links again: groupon, livingsocial, eversave, dealpulp and GroupDealz. I know there are lots of these site out there and the number seems to grow every day. If you have one you really like I'd love to hear about it!

Crochet Hat

She finished it and I LOVE it! Thanks Kristen for making it for me. I definitely think you need to open an Etsy shop!!

Beach Project(s) #2

        
These have been on my list for awhile. They were so easy to make and so much fun too. I tried a couple of different rose styles. There is still one more style that I planned on doing, but I decided I already had made enough for the time being.

These were inspired by this post from Make It and Love It. There are still several other projects of hers I'd like to try, but I was happy to at least get one project knocked off the list.

I made a couple headbands for my nieces, but don't have pictures of them. I'll have to check with the resident photographer during their visit, my sister, Tiffany. (Who by the way has recently started a blog called Ti-ti's Times.)

I also made two fabric pins. One went on the money pouch and the other has already been worn with several outfits. I love what a little color can do to an otherwise plain outfit!

As you can see I now have a lot of things made with that fabric. Guess I need more fabric...

Sunshine and Answered Prayer

Today was yard sale day. It was a little earlier than we usually do it, because life is too crazy in April. We've been watching the weather and praying since we scheduled it a month ago. This time of year the weather fluctuates 20 to 30 degrees from one day to the next. There's also quite a bit more chance of rain. Weather.com reported different weather every day this week, but always a 30% chance of rain. Yesterday it predicted 40% chance of rain for the first two hours of the sale. Well.... they were wrong!! We did get some quick sprinkles around 7, but that's it. It was pretty chilly though for most of the sale, but we did get lots of sunshine! I actually only took off my coat to take this picture. It did get pretty warm while we loading up though. If it wasn't for the wind we probably would have stayed out there longer.

The Lord also answered our prayers about a large semi that kept parking and blocking the street view. It's been there off and on for months now (More on than off though), but we asked the Lord to have him not park there today. Guess what, we got there this morning no semi! It's the Lord good to answer even our smallest requests.

Overall we had a great turnout. Much better than I would have expected, especially since it was so cold. I only came home with one small bin of stuff. I also made more than my highest goal! Yeah for more money to put in the New York fund. I'd still love to one day sell it all...but I'm perfectly content with what I did sell.

Oh, and my money pouch worked wonderfully. I'm not sure how I ever had a sale without it! The hat my friend Kristen crocheted worked wonderfully as well. She's not quite finished with it as she's still going to add a flower, but I'm SO glad I had it today. I would have been pretty miserable without it!

Beach Project #1

Remember this?

Did you guess that it was money pouch? Probably not. My Dad's response when I showed it to him was to laugh. He thought I'd made a mini-skirt. Guess he doesn't know me very well. I've never worn a mini-skirt. Plus if it was a mini-skirt would be pretty airy! 

This is the project I had in mind when I first bought the fabric. The laundry room re-do was only an afterthought. Thankfully there was still plenty left.

  

I'm always wanting a way to carry money with me when I do a craft show or garage sale. This is my solution. I'd say it looks much better than the ones you find at Home Depot! It will get its first use this weekend at the garage sale. Hopefully it meets my expectations!