5 in Five update

The update is a few days overdue, but I finished my 5 in five!

1. Here's my fall banner...

I said I was only going to use stuff I already had to make these projects, and it turned out that I just enough burlap and fall-ish ribbon to make this.

I hung it in the office just for the photo because afternoon light is tough for pictures at my house.  But actually, if you picture the twine with clothes pins on it instead of pennants, that's #4 from my list - my inspiration "wire." :)

2. Halloween silhouettes

Easy!  I've had these frames laying around that my parents were getting rid of, and they were perfect for this project.  I originally wanted to use newspaper for the background.  I tried a couple different things to get it to look old and yellowed.  First I used coffee grounds, but that looked like someone stepped on it with muddy shoes.  Then I tried staining it with tea, but that hardly did anything at all.  So instead, I printed out some old handwritten letters I found here.  I found the silhouettes online and cut them out of black card stock.  And the cool thing about making these was that I figured out I really can use those little five and ten minute pockets of time; I made these while dinner was cooking Monday night.

3. A yummy, autumn inspired treat...

Ginger pumpkin bread, another Martha Stewart winner.  I'm such a Martha junkie.  The recipe was for two loaves, so I got to bring one to work and share the love.  This was so good!  And an awesome side benefit of #5, organizing my food mags.  I didn't get through them all - I was too distracted by all the delicious looking recipes.  But I did make a small dent, and I found a fresh batch of new recipes for dinners last week.


Most of the time, when life seems so busy and work leaves you feeling tapped for resources, the last thing you'd think you'd want is to add more to the to-do list.  But this little challenge of simple, bite sized projects totally took the focus off of looming deadlines and time pressures, and instead was a fun way to get recharged, be creative and celebrate the season.  Mission accomplished.

5 Projects in 5 Days

Earlier this week, I found myself in a funk.  This is the story of me getting out of it. :)

Work's been super busy, and about to be busier.  I work for a magazine doing graphic design, so when work is crazy, I come home creatively tapped and officially pooped.  I get poopy when I'm pooped - what can I say, I like (and need) energy to do things - home things, fun things, life things.  I read a post just last week at re:find Joy, about how important it is to stay inspired when work uses up all your creative juice for the day, and I know I'm not the only one who can relate to this.  It's totally understandable that sometimes, at the end of the day, I don't really want to do much more than collapse in front of a few episodes of House.  The thing is, too many nights of that don't leave me feeling better, and it's because it doesn't give me what I need to feel... balanced.  So then, what's a girl to do?

Yesterday morning, I got to work and found that the piles had literally grown overnight.  I just couldn't start the day like that.  I mean, at the very least, I had to find my keyboard.  So, I found some stuff around the office, and built myself a makeshift desk extension so I could feel like I was not physically buried in the stacks surrounding me.  I cleared off my whole desk.  I came up with some sort of mock filing system, just to feel like there was some order to the chaos, and already, I felt like I had a better handle on things.  And underneath all the stacks of papers on my desk, I found this little reminder I jotted to myself when I first saw it on When I Grow Up a few weeks ago.  I really needed to hear it again yesterday; it was the only thing that would quiet the voice in my head going, "But I just. can't. DO it all."

  

{Must Believe in You by jenzet}

That little reminder changed totally shifted my perspective.  I wasn't going to get anything done feeling all overwhelmed and under-energized.  So what I decided to do was give myself a little creative challenge.  Non-work related, non-chore related.  It was actually inspired by a post that came through my reader, from Ashley's Thrifty Living, who's doing 10 projects in 10 days.

Okay, so ten projects might be a little much for me, but I decided I'd do 5 projects in 5 days, using only things I already have.  I have an overabundance of stuff at home and projects filed away on a mental list.  So this is my challenge for the next five days.  Even just thinking about it gives me more energy.  Maybe I'll get five done, maybe I'll get one done, but either way, this is such a better alternative than succumbing to The Funk.

These are my five projects:

1. Make an autumn banner like I've been seeing all over the place.  Everybody has one, and I want one!  So cute.
2. Make some framed Halloween silhouettes
3. Make some kind of yummy, autumn-inspired treat
4. Hang the twine for my inspiration wire (No, this didn't get done on Saturday.  Productivity gave way to spontaneous napping.)
5. Organize my recipes/foodie mags. Well, start to.

I'll let you know how it goes!  I hope everyone has a lovely weekend :)


P.S.  When I told J what I'm doing, he said he wanted to do it too!  Although he did warn that his projects probably wouldn't be fun and crafty.  More like cleaning out his truck...updating his iPod... hey, whatever works!  If anyone's out there and wants to join the fun, leave a comment, I'd love to see what you're doing.

Fall is here!

Today, I'm decorating for fall.  I'm probably way behind as far as the retail stores and most of the blogosphere is concerned, but that's okay.  I appreciate the jump-start they take; it gives me time to warm up to the transition of the coming season, and usually I'm all about fall starting the minute Labor Day weekend comes.  But I've been working on other things, so I'm all good with being a little late to the party.  It is only the 18th day of autumn after all, and to be fair, this past week was the first time temperatures have dropped below 90 in my corner of the world.  But today, I'm decorating for fall!  I'm ready for cinnamon scents and caramel covered treats and sweaters at night.

Last night I had a buzz of ideas happening - nothing huge really, but things I knew I wanted to do today - hang the twine for my inspiration wire, bring some order back to my office so it can feel like my sanctuary again; clear out a nice big drawer for my paper supplies so I can get to them whenever I want without digging through closets... and decorate for fall.  So today, the usual list of Saturday morning chores is taking a back seat.  I actually changed back into pajamas after washing dishes and walking the dog, and decided this morning I'm going to indulge myself.  I spent the morning enjoying a bowl of Rice Krispies and discovering some new inspiring bloggers, and now I'm going to put on some Rodrigo y Gabriela, unpack all my fall goodies and start celebrating my favorite season. Happy fall!

Picture window

My latest project is finally finished! All it took was a little focus and determination not to get distracted by the next shiny thing (which is tough to do when pumpkins and leaves are happening everywhere!)

I was so excited to take pictures of it, I couldn't wait till it was hung on the wall, but here it is...

How's that for a picture window!  Well, technically a door.  About a year ago, one of my neighbors was getting rid of this door, which I guess was from a hutch or something.  (Check it out, I actually remembered to get a before pic!)

I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I couldn't pass up a perfectly good door.  So I subtly (not really) carried it home while I was walking my dog, and smiled-and-waved when people drove by looking at me sideways.  What, it's a perfectly good door!  And so it sat in my garage until, finally, one day I got my light bulb.

Bing! 

Remember I said I found these words at a yard sale...

Well I don't know what made me think of it, but I held them up to the panes and they were just the right size.  I thought it would be so cute to get pictures of the girls to go with the words, and make a pretty, happy picture frame for their bedroom.

I picked out a soft pink paint and I thought it would be a nice touch to make it look old and weathered.  I found this awesome distressing tutorial and it worked great!  After a light sanding, we lit a tea candle or two and spread a thin layer of wax on the wood, like this...

Then we painted.  This is after one coat.  I almost left it this way because I liked the way it looked all brushy and uneven, but I decided to do the second coat anyway.

When it comes to the distressing part, the wax makes it so easy to scratch the paint right off.   There's no right way to do it, so being the direction-follower that I am, this was actually a good exercise in imperfection for me - recklessly "defacing" a freshly painted door.  (Hi, my name is Lynn and I'm a recovering perfectionist.)  Sunday morning, before my coffee, before my brain was awake enough to stop me, I took one fingernail and scratched it.  There was no turning back after that, and I think it came out just right!

All that was left to do was mount the photos.  After I cut them down to size, I needed some filler to keep them pressed against the glass.  The amount of foam board I would have needed was going to cost a small fortune, so instead I improvised using a few sheets of craft foam in each panel.  It worked like a charm, and it was a major time saver because they were already the right size.  Bonus!

I left a few panes photo-less because I'm a fan of negative space.  It would have been way too busy if every spot had a photo in it.  We trimmed a couple of sheets of poster board to allow for the "holes," then tacked it on with thumb tacks to hold everything in place.  And voila!  A beautiful, personal piece of art.

I'm so so happy about how this whole idea and project came together.  I even made a pretty wallpaper from the words that inspired it.  I know I only have like two readers, but I wanted to share it anyway :)

Wish, love, hope, dream, smile.  Enjoy!

Photo shoot, my creative goal for the week

I'm so lucky to have so many friends who are talented, creative, ambitious and always willing to be soundboards for my randomness. Last week, I met up with my wonderful and amazing friend, Mariah (One Thread That Winds), to toss around some ideas and projects that have been swirling in our busy minds, inspire each other and get motivated. We met at Infusion Tea, which is also home to ArtisTree Co-op, a group of local artists who sell their handmade products in the shop. If anyone is local in Central Florida, you need to go check it out! They have so many cute things in there - jewelry, stationery, hair accessories, baby clothes, adorable aprons. Being surrounded by all this beautiful crafty stuff, it was just the right place to hang out for creative conversation. Plus they have yummy baked goods and every blend of tea imaginable. But I digress.

I've been feeling a little stuck lately, not for lack of ideas, but more like too many ideas and not enough time - or really, not enough time management. Turns out Mariah's been going through some of the same things. So before we left, we decided we'd be goal partners. Every week we'll call each other one goal we intend to work on that week - could be anything from cleaning out a craft closet, to finishing an almost-there project, to taking a first step on a new idea. Big or small, doesn't matter, just anything that moves us forward.

For my first goal, I chose photography. I got a new camera for my birthday and I was soo excited about it, but the poor thing has been completely neglected. I feel like I need to apologize to it or something every time I leave the house without it. A few weeks ago, I came up with a photo project I wanted to do for the girls' room. I thought it might be too ambitious for me.  Mainly because I'm a procrastinator and I don't know how to break things down into baby steps. But now that their room is coming together, it was the perfect photography assignment.

A few weeks ago I bought these words at a yard sale for 25 cents each...

I thought it would be cute if I took pictures of the girls to go with each of the words, so we had a little photo shoot last weekend. 

I wouldn't call myself a people photographer really; I get camera shy behind the camera, as if that makes any sense.  And with kids being so...mobile, and stuff, and me not being all that familiar with the (8,300) settings on my camera yet, I was a little worried I'd bomb it.  I remembered this post I saw on The Idea Room a few months ago by Kristin Duke on candid photography.  She has a list of favorite prompts she likes to use to induce those special candid moments without being "posed."  I love that idea.  I made myself a cheat sheet of words to shoot candidly by, and I think I might just pin it up somewhere because they're fun words just to have around.

Want one?  Have one!

Well I have to say, I don't know what I was worried about.  These girls are so beautiful, it's almost impossible to get a bad shot of them!  I gave them a few prompts here and there, but for the most part, I just let them do their thing.  They had so much fun, and so did I.  Here are a couple of shots... omg they're so cute I could eat them with a spoon!

I got to play with some new Photoshop actions, and holy cow I could spend hours messing around.  So that's my goal for this week, edit the pics and have them printed so next week I can start on the painting part of the project.  Stay tuned!

Five Senses Friday

) feeling (
So excited these bunk beds are finally here!  Can't wait to decorate the girls' room!

) tasting (
A raspberry delice, from Mon Delice bakery.  It was a delicious puff pastry filled with some kind of raspberry sweetness and topped with fresh whipped cream, which sadly, I didn't take any pictures of in it's pretty, white bakery box before I ate.  {sigh}  But there will definitely be a next time.  Soo good.

) seeing (
A guy on line behind me at the grocery store buying only wine and roses.  Aww, sweet.

) hearing (
The Spectrum, Coffeehouse, Classic Rewind, Octane, and any of the other 151 channels on Sirius, since my Hero got my receiver hooked back up.  Ahh, musical variety, and commercial free!


) smelling (
Fall is just around the corner and my favorite autumn-scented candles and potpourri are filling the stores.   Pumpkin spice, fall harvest, cinnamon, caramel, apple orchard...good enough to eat. 

Happy last-Friday-in-August!

Five Senses Friday

) seeing (
All kinds of goodies in the bags of paper supplies I picked up at a yard sale.  Four big bags for $4.  Cards, tags and envelopes in every shape and size.  Total score!

) smelling (
The delicious, comforting aroma of sauteed garlic.  Reminds me of my daddy's cooking.

) hearing (
A playlist made from this list of smile-worthy songs.

) tasting (
Chocolate bacon.  We heard at work that this is a "wedding trend," and my boss has been dying to try it ever since.  Honestly, it's really not bad.
Also...mimosas on a Tuesday night!  Thanks babe!

) feeling (
Quite ready for Happy Hour :)

Here's to a lovely weekend!

Five Senses Friday

) seeing (
The ocean on Sunday looked like something from a movie, vibrant aqua and crystal clear.  I couldn't believe how beautiful it was!  Actually, the beach could have stood in for all five senses this week, it was just that good.

) feeling (
Flattered at having one of my flickr photos faved by Creature Comforts.  I have no idea how she found me, but I'm drooling over her photostream and her blog now... and I'm totally digging the fact that she faved me! 

) tasting (
As far as New Yorkers are concerned, when you say pizza, Domino's doesn't even qualify.  Now, their Cinna-stix on the other hand, I could eat by the truckload.

) hearing (
Infomercials in my sleep.  We fell asleep watching TV, so I wound up dreaming I was doing Zumba and loving it!  Talk about subliminal advertising.  When I woke up to Body Gospel ("Combine the power of your faith with your desire to lose weight...Let the spirit move you..."), I thought for sure I must be dreaming, but no...this is for real.  ?! 

) smelling (
Um.  Can I say "the beach?"  Sorry, must have had my nose off this week!

Luggage tags and a birthday card

This post is a bit belated, but before we get too far into August, I have one more July birthday project to share.  This one was for my bestest friend, Dawn.   Dawn has been an inspiration me in more ways than I can count. She's forever growing, expanding, and celebrating her latest, well-deserved success. She's been there through it all, ever since we became insta-friends 13 years ago, and I'm so grateful for her friendship, the memories we've created together, the crazy adventures we've had, and for the beautiful woman she is inside and out.

One the many things that adds to Dawn's fascinating character, is that she never stands still for too long. Whether it's a new degree, a new job or a new hobby, she always has something new and exciting in the works. Right now, she's planning a trip to Morocco and Spain, and I decided to make her a pair of cute luggage tags to celebrate her journey.

Whenever I think of Morocco, I can't help but think of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, and that exotic, 1940s elegance of Casablanca, so that sparked my inspiration for the design.  I also came across these cool old tags at Fresh Vintage that she scored on an ebay auction...

I love the colors, the funky shapes, the simple illustration, the fonts... I just love me some vintage.


So, with a little fusion of ideas, I came up with these:

I started with some vintage travel posters of places she's been, like Australia and (of course) NY, and the places she's planning on going.  I downloaded some old stamp brushes for Photoshop to give it a parcel-y feel, and created a shipping label so her cargo can always find it's way home safely.

On the other side, I used an old map texture in the background, and added her initials on top.

The tag itself is actually a manila folder.  I couldn't find any manila tags in quantities less than 100 (well, I probably could have if I didn't wait till the last minute for everything), but I also needed to be able to print some of the graphics directly on the tag, like the map and the postal stamps.  So I printed it on the folder, cut out a custom shape for the tag and "scrapbooked" everything together.  Luckily, we have a laminating machine at work so I was able to laminate it for free.  I think it was a little too thick though, because it took about seven passes through the laminator and I still couldn't get it to seal off right up to the edge.  Oh well :)  The silver rings are binder rings, which I had (98 of) left over from another project.  They're easy to open and close so I thought they'd work perfectly to attach the tag to a suitcase.


Since I found all those paper supplies I forgot I had, I made her a birthday card, too.  One of the things I found was a package of plain cards Dawn and I bought maybe 10 years ago.  One day we decided to buy ourselves some Crayola watercolors and some rubber stamps, and we went to the park and painted cards for a few hours like little kids.  Weren't we always getting ourselves into some random thing or another?  Oh Dawn, you live too far away now!!  I miss our shenanigans! {sigh}  Anyway, that's what I used for the base of the card.  I love that it has that little piece of history.

 My other favorite part is the flower.  I had this plain pink flower, but I thought it was a little blah so I added some embroidery floss to punch it up.  First I poked a hole in it so I could attach it to the card later, and to hold it in place while I glued the thread on...

then, I took one piece of floss and looped it around and around, following the shape of the flower.

When it was dry, I poked a hole in the card and attached the flower with a button and some pink floss.

And there it is, handmade with love and best wishes for a beautiful year ahead, wherever your journey takes you!

Five Senses Friday

) smelling (
Ripe, red strawberries for the frozen yogurt pops.  The grocery store was out of raspberries, so I improvised.  Man were they good!

) seeing (
The Stand...well, the first part of it anyway.  It's a million hours long.

) tasting (
My Starbucks summer favorite, Java Chip Frappucino.  I should master the art of making this.

) feeling (
Grateful for all the free stuff that's been coming my way: books, clothes, iPhone bumper (technically that won't be here till September, but free is free!)

) hearing (
It's been a loungy kind of week. It all started with Sunday night Sinatra, then there was Melody Gardot and Adele

Happy, happy Friday!

Chocolate-Raspberry Frozen Yogurt Pops

I've been slowly pecking away at Throwing Out Fifty Things, and one of the cool parts about it is finding things I completely forgot I had...like popsicle molds I bought eons ago to make Tequila Sunrise ice pops one Cinco de Mayo.   Now, I can't leave the poor things neglected on a shelf while it's 97 sweltering degrees outside, can I?  Of course not!  So today I'll be making these:

{Chocolate-Raspberry Frozen Yogurt Pops recipe from Eating Well}

And here's how I'm making out so far with my fifty things:

1. A stack of board games
2. An empty air mattress box
3. A vase
4. A bunch of crap from my night stand, including my old glasses which I can donate
5. A box full of clothes (and a lot more to go)
6. Sold an old computer.  Free money, love that :)

Six down, forty-four to go!

Five Senses Friday

) tasting (
Two rounds of mimosas, deLISHious chocolate chip Belgian waffle and a couple of orders of Mary's Ta-Ta's (Hamburger Mary's grown up name for tater tots)

) seeing (
Cleaning out my night stand, I found a pile of summer recipes I tore out of magazines who-knows-when.  No idea why they were in there, but now I can have fun making a menu for the week!

) hearing (
This is weird, but I was dropping eggs into water to boil and those streams of tiny bubbles coming out sounded like little chicks chirping.  Vegan anyone??

) smelling (
You know how, when your neighbors grill out, it smells SO GOOD you almost want to knock on the door with plate in hand?  Well that smell was coming from our house this week, a lot, since we didn't have any afternoon thunderstorms to contend with.  Empty plates welcome.

) feeling (
Ready to start recreating.  REE-creating, REC-reating, either way.  Happy Friday!

Five Senses Friday

 

) hearing (
Like a Virgin, as performed by my Hero for a Cranium Humdinger. Hilarious!

) tasting (
Shirby's homemade strawberry milkshake

) seeing (
A picture of the sunset I would have seen, if I had been the one to stop for groceries.

) smelling (
Fresh basil, one of my all time favorite scents. Instant happiness.

) feeling (
A lot less sleep deprived this week


Have a beautiful weekend!

Barnes & Noble on a Budget

{Photo: dcfox}

Who doesn't love a wide-open Saturday? In between wonderful weekends of holidays, birthday parties and family functions came a whole day with nothing on the agenda. I had plenty stockpiled on the list of things I'd like to do "when I have time," but for some reason, I wasn't really feeling any of it. The only thing I knew needed to happen was planting our ridiculously fast-growing sunflowers in the ground. First thing in the morning, I went outside and started digging. If there's one thing I know after this attempt at "gardening" in Florida in July, it's that people in cooler climates have little to be jealous of this time of year. Wow. The heat was atrocious.

Zapping my energy didn't do much for my lack of the direction for the rest of the day, so I accepted that, while some days are for expending, some are for absorbing, and this day was definitely of the absorbing kind. For anyone that hasn't read The Artist's Way, this is what Julia Cameron might refer to as needing to "fill the well," and the perfect thing I needed to fill my well was a nice afternoon in the A/C at Barnes & Noble, or Starbucks, browsing blogs on the free wifi while sipping a frozen coffee confection. Except that, really, the wifi isn't free - it's included with a $17 cup of coffee. Since I'm a bit broke at the moment, and I can't honestly think of a Starbucks within 25 miles, I packed up my computer and headed to the library.

I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a geek. As a kid, I used to love summer reading clubs and the free events my mom used to take me to at the library. For as long as I can remember, I've loved coming home with a stack of books almost too big to carry, and this hasn't changed all that much. Without anything specific in mind, I wandered up and down the rows of books and pulled out anything that caught my eye, then spent the next few hours perusing the pages of craft magazines, cookbooks, relationship books, DIY, and who knows what else. I'd even snatched up a salsa DVD I spotted out of the corner of my eye. Welcome to my randomness! But somehow, it all seemed to fit that day.

For instance, I read some advice for couples to recharge their individual batteries every day, a little like filling the well. It's hard to give when you're all tapped out, and it's important, even if just for a few minutes a day, to have you space - go for a walk, listen to music, do yoga - whatever it is that helps you unwind. Then you're more refreshed and better able to handle the tasks that drain energy all day.

I borrowed two issues of Paper Crafts magazine, thanks to my friend Gail, who reignited my interest when she started her brand new Etsy Shop and blog, Simply Oney. Last week, I found boxes full of supplies I totally forgot I had and now I want to see what I can do with them.

Speaking of uncovering forgotten stuff, I picked up a book called Throw Out Fifty Things. I can't remember exactly where, but recently I read that the feeling you get from clearing out space and getting rid of old things is very similar to the way you feel from getting new things. This is good news for those of us in a recession. I don't know about everyone else, but the money trees in my backyard don't seem to bearing beaucoup fruit these days, if ya know what I mean. Might be the sandy soil or something. But instead of bumming out about not buying new stuff, I think I'd like to try getting rid of some old stuff and feeling a little bit lighter. Maybe I'll even enter the Summer Home Slim Down Challenge. For inspiring ideas on simplifying and living lighter and with intention, check out Makeunder My Life and Small Notebook.

For a day that started with little motivation, I'm happy with how I made out. That was the best zero dollars I've spent in a while. (Alright, I had 50 cents in fines, which the librarian kindly reminded me I didn't have to pay then. I paid it anyway.) Now I better go start practicing salsa for my So You Think You Can Dance audition.

Five Senses Friday

) feeling (
Amazed how fast these little sunflowers sprouted!  They were planted on the 4th of July, and this was only 3 days later.

) seeing (
Shooting stars... one for each of us.

) tasting (
Pork tenderloin with honey butter.  Mmmmm...honey butter.  I wish I could put this on everything.

) hearing (
Dirty Vegas, All or Nothing

) smelling (
I didn't know it was possible to smell something that isn't really there.  Conjuring a scent isn't like closing your eyes and picturing your puppy.  But somehow while I was busy working away in my little windowless office, my mind invented the smell of summer.  Some blend of watermelon, cocoa butter, ocean air and sweet beach grass.  I swear it was real as could be, and it smelled delicious.

Five Senses Friday

{Photo: PRM Photography}

) seeing (
The most amazing moonrise over the water, framed by blue lights on the mast of a sailboat, and as if this perfect summer day deserved a grand finale, an unexpected and perfectly timed fireworks show.

) feeling (
Ecstatic over catching up with so many old friends all in one weekend, AND catching my first wave!
"This is one of those moments you wish you could put in a bottle and save forever."

) tasting (
Juicy cantaloupe and cottage cheese for breakfast.

) smelling (
Fresh, clean sheets

) hearing (
Auditorium...mesmerizing audio-visual experience, and it's on my iPhone.  I'm in trouble!

Happy 4th of July!

Marble Magnets

Last week was my beautiful friend Sommer's birthday.  Sommer is summer—warm, fun, cheery…she's like a burst of sunshine and the kind of person that makes you happy just to be around.  Check out her blog, Creative Produce, and you'll see how cute she is!  Just try not to drool on on your keyboard over those cake balls.  She's super talented and one of the most creative people I know, and I knew she would appreciate a handmade gift.

Since Sommer and the beach go together like summer and the beach, the theme was an easy pick, and I made her a set of pretty magnets with a vintage surf vibe.  The idea for these magnets has been around for a while but they're so easy and fun to make, it's definitely worth sharing again.  I found this tutorial several years ago on not martha and I've made a few sets already.  I always love how they turn out!

All you need are some flat glass marbles, magnets, Mod Podge, glue and assorted pictures, papers, or fabrics or whatever you want to use.  I went online to find some vintage-style surf and beach images.  I found tons.  I even found one that says "Seaside Bakery," which is perfect because she loves to bake!  It's too bad I couldn't fit the part that said "Best Buns on the Beach!"  I went to this digital scrapbooking site, Shabby Princess, that offers full kits you can download for free.  The kits come with patterned papers, embellishments, alphabets and all kinds of digital goodies.  There was so much to play with, I could have easily made 30 magnets.  But who really needs 30 magnets?  It was tough to do, but I narrowed it down to 12 so she wouldn't be opening the gift secretly thinking, "Cute but…who really needs 30 magnets?"  I resized my favorites to fit the marbles and cut out little squares.

These little squares make me happy, I don't know why—they're like mini Polaroid art or something.  I glued the squares to the backs of the marbles using Mod Podge and let them dry overnight.  Once they were dry, I trimmed closely around the edges and used Aleen's craft glue to attach a magnet to the back of each one.

I like to package them in metal tins, 'cuz hi, they're magnetic.  I found this one at Michael's and dressed up in a beachy bow.  Isn't it cute??

I hope you like your magnets, Sommer!  Happy Surf-day, I mean Burf-day!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Memorial Day weekend... the unofficial start of Summer, and what more American way to spend it than at a Yankees game?  For my Hero's birthday, we planned a vacation to New York and I surprised him with tickets to the game.  It was awesome!  I was going to just stick the tickets in his birthday card, but I thought it would be more special if I made him one instead.

I went online and found all kinds of images to use.  The Life photo archive is a great resource for every kind of historical photo you can think of.

The photo of the field on the inside of the card is actually the view from the seats we'd be in!  I got it from the Yankees site.  Of course, this guy wasn't there the day they took that picture...

This guy must have been the biggest Yankees fan I've ever seen...literally!  Seriously, look at his friend next to him, normal size dude, and there's GIANT man.  Thank God he moved finally.

I wish I would have been able to take some pictures of the new stadium, but we got delayed on the train (good old LIRR) and we didn't get there till the 3rd inning, so we didn't get to walk around too much.  We had a great time though, and I got to eat the best pretzel I might have ever had.  I can't tell you how thrilled we were just to be home in NY, and to be there with the Yankees on his birthday??  Awesomeness.

Five Senses Friday

) hearing (
To the Sea, new Jack Johnson.  From the Clouds is instant happiness.

) feeling (
The difference between New York hot and Florida hot.

) tasting (
Chicken calypso with Island Peas and Rice (I wish I took a picture of it!), and Carvel cake for dessert.

) smelling (
Sweet Pea Body Splash I totally forgot I had.

) seeing (
This quote, from two separate friends on the same day (think someone's trying to tell me something?)
"If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything." ~Win Borden