ADK Adventure

We have been camping for the last week in the Adirondacks at Racquet Lake in Golden Beach State Park.  It has the most gorgeous sand beaches (thus the name) and shallow water that goes on and on so the kids can play safely.  We had a couple days of rain, but all in all it was a great trip.  We borrowed a 1988 Winnebago from one of hubby's friends, dated but functional.  It kept us off the ground and gave us a safe place to sleep. 

We went with family and friends. There were tons of kids that Eliza got to know so it was great to have them celebrate her 3rd Birthday with us.  I went to a nearby town and ordered a cake, it was delicious.  She got a Dora Trike for her birthday and enjoyed riding with the "big girls".

We finally got the kayaks out after a three year hiatus.  We have a double kayak and a single kayak.  The original plan was to have Ethan and I in the double and Shawn and Eliza squeeze in the single.  That lasted about 20 minutes and Eliza wanted to be with me.  Ethan took over the single kayak and Shawn chauffeured us in the double.  We went on a several mile ride to some waterfalls.

Isn't it beautiful.  I love giving myself and my children these experiences.  We are so fortunate to live in New York (in the summer -ha ha) to enjoy all the beautiful nature.  Have a terrific day.

The Craft Cart Finish

So I have spent too many hours thinking about how to make this cart cute and adorable so I could link it up to parties, get more followers, make others feel craft cart envy, blah blah blah...  

I just settled with making it functional.  It is kinda of cute, but more importantly, it holds stuff and makes my crafting life more organized.  I have a "craft room" in my son's old room that is right off my bedroom.  I painted it royal blue ages ago and never changed it.  In the last few years it has been a catch-all for everything because we don't have an attic and our basement gets wet.  I have spent about 8 hours in the last few days cleaning it out and reorganizing.  Again, it's not like the amazing craft rooms I see in blog world, but it's useful and best of all,  it's mine.  I moved the craft cart in there and started setting it up with my essentials.  I also have a craft table in there that I want freed up for larger projects, so the cart is perfect.

 And for some of the details:

I can't wait to get crafting now that I have everything organized.  I'm a little hesitant to make a mess now, but that too shall pass!!

The AV cart transformation: from Drab to Fab Phase One

Ok, so my girls Angie (Baseball and Ballet) and Allison (Lipgloss Lounge) and I had another successful garage sale day on Saturday.  We went to a sale that had those old Audio Video (AV) carts, you remember, the ones that held the overhead projectors in class.

Well I wouldn't have looked twice at it, but Angie, initially attracted by the color, saw it and thought maybe it would make a good outdoor food cart.  She had a vision for it, which I totally lacked that day.  Then Allison pointed out that with the electrical outlet we could hook up the blender and make margaritas- great idea.

As we started joking about all the things we could do with it, we thought about turning it into a craft cart.  The outlet would be perfect for the hot glue gun, light box, or whatever needs electricity.  It was on wheels and had great shelving for storage. It could just be pushed to the corner of the room and pulled out when needed.  

There happened to be two of them and somehow, after a few punches (ha ha), Allison and I walked out with them.  Poor Angie, the one with the vision, and she didn't even get one.  Don't fret, she can fend for herself.  So I decided to spray paint mine Mediterranean, which is pretty close to the color it already is.

As you can see, it was pretty dark before I finished, but you get the idea.  Allison and I went to the store and found magnetic curtain rods to attach to hold the ribbon.  I will keep you updated on the transformation.  Thanks Angie for being so selfless.

Decorating the Mantle

 














Oh, by the way, today's my birthday: woot woot.  One year away from the big 4-0.  I feel like I am making some healthy changes in my life that will make getting older not hurt so much.  For one thing, I am exercising 3 to 4 days a week pretty intensely (for me anyway).  I also feel good about this blog.  I love utilizing my creative side and I think that blogging has been a positive experience so far.  Well enough chit chat, off to the decorating/crafting.  I have been working on a few things to dress up my mantle and make it more "summery" (is that a word??). Anywho...I finally got a chance to put it all together last night with the help of my partners in crime, Allison and Angie.


The first project was instant art for the wall utilizing an antique, shabby frame, burlap, starfish, and of course, Hot Glue.

Voila!

Then I made some apothecary jars after seeing some on blogs.  

Adorable

I added some more pieces to the the mantle and even hot glued a shell to a plate for some added dimension.

Here it is all put together

Enjoy your day, and give me a birthday gift by becoming a fabulous follower!!

Burlap Creation

So my new Seascape Centerpiece was looking a little lonely on the table.  I looked around the house for a mat or runner to put underneath.  I couldn't find anything so I decided to craft my own.  I bought some burlap on my recent trip to Hobby Lobby and decided to cover a place mat with the burlap.  I just used packing tape so it would be temporary.

Then I needed to dress it up, so I added some ribbon.

A nice base for the new centerpiece.

Seascape Centerpiece

I picked up this wooden bowl stand for $3 at a garage sale.  Check out the transformation...

I used a Martha Stewart color called Sea Glass

Then I used a square glass plate, cut a piece of burlap to lay onto it and randomly spread some seashells.  Inside the bowl I used a purple glass bottle and filled another clear bottle with sand.  I threw in some more shells and some starfish.  Here is a close up.

And with the DIY burlap runner

I will be linking this to my favorite parties: see side bar

Including http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

Catching Up

I have put together some picture collages that capture what we have been up to this week.  Of course, we celebrated Independence Day.  Our city has a celebration in the park with food, music, bounce houses, a baseball game, and fireworks.  As you will see, I tried to get a couple shots of Ethan but he was not interested.

Eliza and I went to my sister Sari's in western New York.  Her and her husband Ryan have a six month old baby girl named Shelby and a five year old boy named Travin.  Eliza adores both of them.  The boys stayed home because they had work/baseball commitments.  The first night we were there we took Eliza to her first drive-in movie, Cars 2.  The next day we visited the Strong Children's Museum which is amazing.  We will have to go again and see all of the things we missed.

 

Showing Off

I received an email last night that my Patriotic Pinwheel Tutorial would be featured on one of my all time favorite blogs.  I am SOOOO excited.  Thanks Roeshel.

The Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chip recipe was featured on Spunky Junky. Shout out to Allison for the great find on that one.