Dumb Blonde Gardening 101

Okay, so I should write a book about Dumb Blonde gardening because I have NO idea what I'm doing!!! That's okay, though, I like it that way. I like to learn as I go.

So...nobody got hurt in the process, and I made this glorious box for a raised garden bed!!! I read up on how to do it HERE and after much sweat and a couple of tears, I did it. It isn't exactly how the instructions said to do it, but whatever! It worked!


Alright, so the plants won't care if all of the legs are straight - the point is that I MADE IT MYSELF!!!





















And here is my little box. Precious, isn't it? My husband made me put it here because it's such an eyesore! But it will get plenty of sunshine, so I don't care. He'll think it's an eyesore when I'm bringing in yummy, fresh veggies for our summer grilling and salads.



And here are my little babies. The tall guys there are my green beans - I LOVE fresh green beans!!!





These happy little guys are my sunflowers. I hope they grow to be big, strong, and gigantic!!!

Obviously they won't go in the garden box, but I've got a great spot picked out for them in the back of my yard.



I can't remember what these are - cucumbers maybe - but whatever they are, they're CUTE!!!

My kids have really enjoyed this whole seed planting process. They're just as excited as I am. Now I just have to figure out how to keep the furry woodland critters away...

START YER ENGINES!

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To clarify: you do not have to have a blog - just a mailing address. If you do NOT want your blog listed, please let me know.

SWEET! I've already got 70 names on my list and it keeps growing EVERY DAY! Let's get some more ladies on board - the more the better!!! Pass this around to all of your friends and family - let's get EVERYONE making an apron for summer!



And...oddly enough...what the heck is wrong with orange?! I've had so many say they don't want an orange apron! Go figure...

Have You Tried...

To some of you, this is old news, but it occurred to me today that there MIGHT be some of you out there who haven't tried Pandora radio online. IT'S FREE and you create your own "stations" with your favorite types of music. The beauty of it is that it plays AWESOME music without any commercials or stopping! Just mark the boxes as to whether you like or dislike a song or not, and Pandora customizes your mix! They have EVERYTHING you could imagine! And if you like a song, you can click on the drop-down menu and purchase it through iTunes or whatever method you use. I've found some COOL music that I probably wouldn't have ever heard of otherwise.

Desperate but GOOD!

If I could marry a food group, it would be Nutella. No Brainer. And...I know what you're thinking...and Nutella IS it's own food group - all by itself at the very top.

So I was out of chocolate of any kind the other day and I was DESPERATE for something. (pretty sure it's hormone related.) After the screaming and the rampage, I went into my natural "survival mode" when this happens and started scavenging.

AHA! Nutella - my friend. But WHAT to put it on?! Leftover pancakes - perfect. Warm one up and voila. I was in Nutella heaven. You guys HAVE to try this sometime.

(plus, the pancakes were the homemade kind with whole wheat, oats, and such in them! So does that cancel out the calories?)

Cooking 101 - Easy Peach Cobbler

Peaches are quite possibly the world's most perfect fruit! (in my opinion.) I CRAVE peaches!

This is probably the EASIEST dessert to make ever! I made this for the baby shower a couple of days ago and talk about a stress relief! Dessert was fixed up in 5 minutes and all I had to do was bake it!

Here's what you'll need for a 9 x 13 pan: (my pan is a little larger than that, so cut this in half if you feel like it.)
2 29-oz. cans sliced, unsweetened peaches
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
2 Yellow cake mixes
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 c. water

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.) Bring water and butter to a boil

3.) Dump one can of peaches in your pan; strain the juice from other can of peaches and dump the peaches in the pan.

4.) Sprinkle cinnamon all over the peaches; sprinkle just a little bit of nutmeg over the peaches. (a little nutmeg goes a LONG way!)

5.) Sprinkle cake mix over the top of the peaches evenly.

6.) Gently ladle the melted butter and water mixture over the cake mix, making sure it's distributed evenly. DO NOT STIR ANYTHING.

7.) Bake for 45 minutes.

Serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Farm Fresh Baby Shower

I love, love, LOVE baby showers and yesterday I got to put one together for two cute girlfriends. They're the best of friends and are having baby boys together, which makes this all that much more exciting! They were SO entertaining to watch and we all had a blast!

I decided to go "Farm Fresh" with peach cobbler, strawberry shortcake biscuits, piggies-in-a-blanket, and strawberry lemonade. Some friends brought some chocolate fudge bars and fresh veggies, which made it all perfect. Oh, and my door prizes were jars of jam! Smuckers has some new SEEDLESS, spreadable fruit jams - blueberry, black raspberry, fresh strawberry, and apricot! (of course, I got a couple for myself...)

In keeping with my whole "Farm" thing, I conveniently purchased a few of these "Big Red Barn" books by Margaret Wise Brown and Felicia Bond several weeks ago. This is one of our favorite books right now - probably for me more than anyone because I love farms and big, red barns.

And for each girlfriend, I made a soft blankie, matching burpie and onesie. My onesie was just a square that was top-stitched on the front with a 1/4" edge on it so that when it's washed, the edges fray a little. Despite what it seems, the set couldn't be easier to make. If you do a few at the same time, you'll have a good stash of baby gifts for the future!

I actually did some online research and according to my findings, the blanket would have cost around $40.00, onesie $25-30.00, and burpie $15.00. So had I purchased this gift set at a boutique, it would have cost me $85.00! Now my sewing isn't exactly factory quality, but you get my point. It's TOTALLY worth it to make your own at home!

(cute girls!!!)

Etsy Favorites

One saving salvation I have in my life is my "Favorites" list on Etsy. (Chanda, you're definitely a fave!) (here's her link) While the kids were flooding the bathroom and killing each other during bath time tonight, I decided to indulge and check out my faves since I had a minute to kill. I guess it's kind of like window-shopping, eh? What would you call it? Maybe cyber-scoping or click-wishing? Anyhoo - here's my little wish list tonight:

Vintage necklace from Raquel Castillo
Oh my gosh - this is amazing. Not everybody will agree with me here, but I would never take this thing off. Okay, well, maybe to shower - but it goes right back on.














Lassiegirl - pinafore made from Ginger Blossom. I could eat the entire Ginger Blossom line and if I had a baby girl, I'd dig up some money for this

















Retrofied
I love this bag. It's so fresh and bright!











Obviously I love handbags. This one is by
Pink Lemonade and I LOVE the chandeliers on it!




Oktak coin purse - I love, love, love this shop. I bought some frames like this to show you all how to make a cute purse like this. (I have to cross off more of my to-do list first - oh, and pay attention to my children every now and then)



XS Baggage

I've actually purchased a little purse like this a while back and I STILL love it to death! This shop has all kinds of stuff and continues to be one of my #1 faves.

Okay - I've shared some of mine - what are some of your favorite Etsy finds? There are so many undiscovered treasures there waiting for me!

Quick & Easy Apron

Here's another apron tutorial for those of you looking for something SUPER simple. There's nothing fancy here, just strait cuts and straight lines. I didn't add a pocket because I wanted to keep this as basic as possible. (plus, I like it better without a pocket.)

If you like this fabric, I got it at Reprodepot. The red floral is "Lotus" by Amy Butler and I have no idea what the vintage kitchen fabric is called and I can't find it on the site. (and I'm mad because I need some more!)








These are all of the pieces you'll need:

A top and bottom piece
24" wide by 23" long (or create your own size depending on what you like)

One waistband - 9" x 24" (or 4 1/2" folded)

One bottom band - 3" x 24" (or 1 1/2 " folded)

Two belt ties - 9" x 37"

To make this easier: If you were to take one yard of fabric, the one you'll use for the trim, and lay it out flat, fold the two longest pieces together, and then together again. Then cut your waistband, ties, trim, etc. with your rotary cutter and ruler. You can adjust your waistband length however you want it - but the ties will be just right.





Pin right sides together of the apron pieces and belt ties.

Leave a top opening in the apron, as well as one edge of the belt ties so you can turn them right-side-out.




Iron about 1/4" all the way around on the waistband and bottom band.




Sew seams and clip edges. Press open EVERYTHING.













Belt ties are hard to press open, so fold back one edge, press and work from there.

Turn them right-side-out, press.






Center your apron on your waistband, pin in place







I love the look of pleated ties. Simply overlap in the center and iron it flat. I usually pin it in place so it keeps it's shape while I sew.

If you do pleat, make sure you pleat opposite on either side. Pleat left on one side and right on the other side. I like my pleats to face DOWN - but do what you like. (see photo below)


Now you just stitch, starting at the top of your right corner where the belt ties are pinned, all the way around to the left corner. You can stitch the top of the waistband if you'd like, but it's not necessary.

Finally, center your bottom strip across, pin in place, and stitch.

Idea Venture - Canvas, Paint, Fabric

MY GOODNESS! They've done it again and this time I'm going for it! The fine folks at Pottery Barn Kids have inspired me once again.

I am OBSESSED with trees and all things tree related, so when I saw this piece of art, I just about gagged on my cold cereal this morning! I'm definitely going to be doing my own version of this tree and maybe even some flowers like those below.

It doesn't get any easier than this, ladies - some paint, blank canvas frames from JoAnn's, your favorite fabrics, and some adhesive. The color scheme possibilities are endless! You could even do a "Family Tree" thing with this and write the names of your family members on the leaves. I probably won't do that, but it's a fun idea.

Okay, so my ever-growing to-do-list just got bigger! Better get going!

Home

Well, technically I'm home, but I'm not really home. My home is this desert right here in Southeastern Arizona. We just enjoyed an amazing, fun-filled week in this beautiful country and I didn't want to leave HOME!

Here are a few photos of some of the beauties we encountered. If you haven't gone yet, you MUST visit Arizona.

You should be able to click on each picture for a larger version.

Spring Break

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the lack of posting - we've been having a BLAST in Sunny Arizona for spring break. We're comin' home today and it's back to work after that. Thanks for all of the kind words! I love reading your comments! They all get emailed to me, even if it's an old post from last year, so that always makes my day!!!

I'll be back soon! Keep the apron entries coming!