where diggers dig and fairies fly

I have been plugging away on the decorations for our upcoming party.  The beans' excitement makes the late night makings possible, as does a hefty dose of caffeine in the morning!

Where diggers dig and fairies fly is the theme for their upcoming garden birthday party.  The little guy is usually  outside with his diggers, moving dirt back and forth for hours on end.  And with the oldest bean liking wings, fairies was the natural way to go!

Sticking with "using what I have," I was able to convert an old frame into a chalkboard.  I figure it will be fun to write on for special occasions.  And here are the mushrooms for the party.

 The tops of the mushrooms are made out of a light weight clay and the bases are just cones that I sprayed brown.  They were fun to make and add a bit of the garden to our little side board.  Now if I get a little done every night I will be in good shape for their big day!  

*On a final note, our good friend Julie from Being Home has switched to WordPress so she has a new domain name that I would like to pass on in case you couldn't find her.  So here she is..... beinghomedecor.com  
And for those of you that don't know this sweet gal, you should pop on over and pay her a visit when you get a chance.  She is one talented lady!!!   

All the best this weekend!

Happy baking, making and growing!!!

MAKING Mondays....ghost garland {and some more pics of our garden room}

I started Making Mondays a while back to push myself to create at least once a week.  Ahhh..... let's just say that didn't happen!  One day the studio will be done, my stuff will be in one place, AND maybe I will have a few minutes to consistently create SO why not hang on to this idea for a bit longer!  

Projects these days have to be somewhat quick or kid orientated.

When the flood hit our home my Ikea curtains got stained from the muck water.  I knew I could repurpose some of the material and was able to do just that with this project.

All of the materials I had lying around...

*styrofoam balls *pushpins *dried flowers and stems *sequins *rope, yarn, ribbon *white material 

Using pins to attach the hanging loops and faces saved me a lot of time!

Instead of stringing my garland like I had originally planned, I hung the individual ghosts from our coat hooks.

Linking up with...

The Shabby Nest

The Lettered Cottage

I Should be Mopping the Floor

And here is what I accomplished today in the garden room...

lattice is installed and climbing hydrangea is planted

Autumn Clematis is safely transplanted to be grown over arbor

Catmint (Montrose White) and Miscanthus sinensis (Graziella) are planted under the window

Joe Pye Weed is planted..I have always wanted one of these guys!  Hope he blocks that meter soon!!

Japanese Forest Grass and Japanese Painted Fern transplanted today

It really doesn't take much to make me happy.  Just looking out the dining room window now brings me pure joy!  

All the best in the week ahead friends! 

Happy making, baking and growing!!!

some snazzy little finds

Coming out of my maternity haze of oversized shirts and elastic pants, I have started to slightly remember the gal I was before the beans.  Making, wearing, and scouting for jewelry has always been a  bit of an obsession for me.   Buying at local shops or through Etsy is the way I generally like to go.   But when looking for a curtain rod at World Market (go figure I ended up in the jewelry aisle) I came across some of their snazzy new pieces.

Though I didn't walk away with any of the jewelry, I did buy some head wraps and headbands.
Hey, it's a start!

What are you scouting for these days?

Here is to a great weekend!

side yard SOS...take 2!

Our side yard is coming along!  I can't say that it is lush and green and looking like this yet.....

Source via-Roomzar

or like this...

Source via-FIneGardening

But some changes have been made to create a private garden room.  

Some before shots...

And some progress...

fence and arbor installed

I planted a "silhouette"  which is a tall narrow tree to screen our neighbor's upper windows.

Leveled the ground after removing our raised veggie box and started adding some stones for stepping.

I found a bunch of bricks that were buried so I started using them for edging along this bed where I moved a "Blushing Bride" hydrangea, a pot of Impatiens,  and several Solomon Seal.  

I have to take more photos of what I have accomplished in the area but one of the beans dropped mom's camera!  Hence the pictures from my phone!!

until then....Happy Gardening!  

thrifting for kids

It was a great day today!  My pal Mel introduced me to the Step By Step Resale for kids and boy was it cool!  Step by Step is a non-profit organization that offers educational activities for families in our area.

I have always enjoyed thrifting but this was on a much grander level for me!  To become a seller you register, wait to be approved, enter items on their database, tag and drop off your lot the day before the sale.  I worked the sale today and the scene was awesome!  My conversations with moms about reusing and not buying new was the general theme.  If you could just see the sheer amount of stuff you would ask why we buy new to begin with. Baby strollers, winter coats, bikes, books, bedding, Halloween costumes, toys (Oh the toys), shoes, clothing for all ages and the list goes on.

source via-Step by Step

I have thought a lot about my general consumption over the past year, and after today, know that I will be doing things a bit differently for my family.

Overall, I bought 11 items and sold most of my baby clothes/equipment. I was able to purchase fall clothes for the girls, books, a Thomas game, t-shirts for my son and that Radio Flyer scooter for my bean.  Grand total....18 dollars!  That scooter cost TWO dollars!!!

 Reusing and saving money feels pretty groovy!

Thrifting with...The Thrifty Groove

the start of fall in our home

I'm somewhat of a minimalist when it comes to seasonal decorating.  I try to use things from nature and make projects with the kids to add those special bits of the new season throughout our home!  

 {I made this wreath out of honeysuckle garland, leaves and burlap}

How do you decorate for the new season?  

Happy making, baking, and growing!

Linking with...
Jennifer Rizzo
The Inspired Room

Salvador Dali and my dahlias

As I watch my dahlias emerge and eagerly wait to see how they will unfold, I was shocked by the surreal appeal of my dahlia "Mystery Day."  It made me think of an artist I studied back in my days at art school.  Salvador Dali is best known for his dramatic and bizarre images which were always fun to dissect for their meaning.  

Melting Clocks...source

I can't help but notice that Dali is similar in both spelling and pronunciation as dahlia.   Though they are both surreal to me, I do have an obvious favorite!

Happy making, baking and growing!!!  Here is to a wonderful weekend!

Linking up with....Fishtail Cottage