pillowcase shirt

I used this tutorial to make this darling shirt out of a pillowcase.

I've never sewn with elastic thread before, so I faced lots of challenges along the way. Just before giving up, I found this site with great tips on shirring fabric. As it turns out, my length and width settings were off.

isn't this beautiful...

"Mommy, I picked strawberries for dinner."

notice the dirty toes

july 4

Happy Fourth of July!

I love three day weekends...I really do. But this year our car quit working the day before everything closed down for the Fourth, so we'll spend Thursday-Monday morning at home with no car.

I was kind of bummed at first, because I felt like I was just throwing things together for our company this afternoon. I went through my kitchen drawers and cupboards in search of red and blue serving platters and linens. After scrounging around the house this morning, I found this old blue quilt and a red gingham curtain panel for the picnic table.

I placed little American flags in a jar of beans (my husband's idea), and there you have it...we're all set for company!

strawberry picking

We spent the morning out in the warm sunshine picking delicious strawberries!

There's just something about kids in a strawberry field that makes me smile.

Happy Summer to all of you!

a touch of blue

When we moved into our little house 2 years ago, I was so thankful that the previous owner had exposed and refinished the hardwood floors and chose great colors to paint the walls. I fell in love with the green walls in the kitchen...perfect for bright red accents! The living room walls are a pale yellow, which I don't mind, but with our stuff in the room, it just wasn't doing anything for me. I had this idea of removing most of my neutral tones and adding little touches of blue around the room. I had a few things around the house that I brought together--a blue throw, bird eggs, old blue books, and a great poster of the Puget Sound. I really like how it turned out!

I got this 5' x 8' rug on clearance at Pottery Barn a few years ago. It contains so many colors and serves as a great palette. I'm glad I was able to use what I already had to do this little make-over.

This was my friend, Emily's idea. We found this map of the Puget Sound awhile back in a little town called La Conner. She has one just like it that her dad cut into pieces and backed with foam board. I thought this was a great idea! However, when I got it home, it was much too long to fit above my mantel and I didn't have any spare walls besides. I tucked it away for future use.

The other night, I wondered if the map would fit above the fireplace if I trimmed off the top and bottom edges...it did! I backed it with foam board and, instead of fastening it to the wall, I just leaned it up against the wall.

Here are a few things I gathered from around the house.

I love walking into my living room now. It feels so bright, so fresh!

have a sweet saturday

jar full of sprinkes

Doesn't this make you happy? I was so excited to use one of my new Farm Chicks tags to label my jar of rainbow sprinkles!

the farm chicks show

My sweet friend, Andi, and I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at The Farm Chicks Show today. Talk about sensory overload! It took me about 30 minutes to calm down after we walked through the doors.

Everything and anything a vintage girl could ever want was right there before my eyes. We had such a great day. We were so glad to be able to meet Courtney from A Cottage Family!

I will have to say that both Andi and I showed great restraint, and after about 3 1/2 hours of walking around, I had only purchased a belt for $10 (I've been looking for a nice, inexpensive cowgirl-looking belt for about 6 years now), and she had purchased a little type letter. I went looking for very specific things...a red metal tray (nope, didn't find one), vintage pillowcases to make this shirt, and something from The Farm Chicks' area for some kind of souvenir. So, here's what I bought...

these great pillowcases for the shirt I'd like to make,

Farm Chicks tags to label kitchen jars,

a Farm Chicks shirt--I took this picture for my mom :)
If you look closely, you can see my $10 belt.

And here's one more thing I found...a great pair of cowgirl boots! I had to say goodbye to my old boots after I had my twins (my feet grew just a tad). I've been looking for a pair to replace them. I didn't expect to find a pair there at the show today. They're used, but the price was right!

disappearing act

Yes. I know I've been away from this little blog for a couple of weeks. The sunshine, the green grass, the warm soil, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, sweet children on bikes (including one who needs training wheels no longer), popsicles, and freeze tag have kept me away. And just recently my oldest asked if we could use a stack of old bricks in our yard to make a path through our garden.

Yes. We've been busy around here. I'm sore and a bit sunburned, but what a time we've had!

old fashioned picnic dinners

With warmer weather on its way, I need to shift gears. After months of planning and preparing cozy winter meals, I'm definitely ready for yummy salads and anything grilled--chicken, steak, veggies, pizza. I picked up these plastic food baskets at Cost Plus a few weeks ago. Aren't they fun?

And I love how sliced watermelon looks in my new bowl!

What do you look forward to making for your family (or eating) with summer on the horizon?

i'm such a groupie!

I'll be 35 in a couple of months, but you'd never know it by the way I acted when I met The Farm Chicks this morning! I'm almost certain I behaved like a 12 year old. I was completely giddy, and I had the dumbest grin on my face the entire time. Hopefully they're used to it by now. As I stood there with them, I had this little conversation with myself...

"I can't believe it's them! I can't believe it's them...get a grip, Jen! They're just people!"

Last month, our family went down to California to visit family. When I saw their new cookbook on a shelf in a bookstore, I pulled it off the shelf and set it out with all of the other cookbooks on display. Groupie!

And now for the icing on the cake...this really made my day! Serena told me she saw this yellow tray on my blog a while back--I picked it up one Saturday morning when I hit a few yard sales, thrift stores and antique stores here in town.

Guess what? It was hers! Yep...the giddiness went up a few more notches at that point.

new daisies

I adore these Gerbera daisies that grace my kitchen table. When the afternoon sun pours in through the west window and bathes them with its natural light, it takes my breath away!

No camera flash can out-do the warm glow of sunlight.

Even in the shadows, they make my heart happy. I'm so glad God made flowers!

time for lilacs

last year's blooms

Who doesn't love the smell of lilacs in bloom? My lilac bushes are starting to wake from their long winter's nap. This means that my poor kids have to do a lilac craft. ;)

For our Friday Preschool class this morning, we'll make these paper lilacs using purple paint, straws, green pipe cleaners, green construction paper and white tag board.

You can probably figure this out by looking at my terribly dark photo (sorry). We'll use straws to dab the paint onto the white tag board, which, surprisingly takes awhile. I always love it when kids' crafts last longer than 5 minutes. Sometimes it takes me a very long time to prepare these crafts for my kids and then they finish lickedy-split!

Here are a couple of fun books that feature our very lovely lilac flower.

In Bunny's Noisy Book, I'll have the kids make the sounds that Bunny hears or makes. In Little Green, I'll have the kids use their fingers to imitate what Little Green, the hummingbird, does in the book (flying high and low, zipping, darting, starting, stopping, looping, etc.).

the farm chicks in-person!

Guess who I get to meet on Saturday? You guessed it! These wonderful ladies, Teri and Serena, otherwise known as The Farm Chicks. I'd say, "ha ha," but that would be a bit immature, don't you think? It's not like we're meeting for coffee or anything...I'm just running to the grocery store to pick up a few items and, oh, getting my new cookbook signed!

I can hardly wait. Do any of you own their new cookbook? It's wonderful!

vintage kitchen towels

What is it about vintage kitchen towels?

They make me smile.

They don't have to match; they don't even have to be clean. Mine get a bit grubby from little hands around here...

"use the towel after you wash your hands, please."

I guess that's what makes them so special.

mrs. morgan's caramel corn (make it in your microwave!)

I no longer have a microwave--long story. But the only thing I miss about having one is being able to make this delicious and 0h-so-easy recipe for caramel corn in a brown paper bag. Hope you get a chance to try it. I promise you won't be disappointed!

What you'll need:

4 quarts of popped popcorn (I pop 1/2 cup of kernels in my popcorn popper)

Combine:
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick of butter or margarine
1/4 cup white Karo Syrup
1/2 tsp. salt

Boil in microwave for 2 minutes (don't stir).
It must boil for 2 minutes.

Remove from microwave and add 1/2 tsp. baking soda. Stir.

Put popped popcorn in a brown paper bag.
Pour syrup over popcorn, close bag and shake.

Microwave on high for 1 1/2 min.
Remove bag and shake.

Microwave on high for another 1 1/2 min.
Remove bag and shake.

Cool in a single layer on waxed paper.

my heart is ready for spring...

"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold...

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only for an hour."

"Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year."

from "Nothing Gold Can Stay" and "A Prayer in Spring"
--Robert Frost

sing over me

"The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."
-Zephaniah 3:17

My mom gave me this CD three years ago, right around the time my twin daughters were born. I loved its soft, gentle lullabies and worship songs.

There are no more babies to rock to sleep here in our home, but I still find myself listening to this album over and over again. It reminds me of a very special time in my life. Right after my girls were born, my husband was in a terrible accident at work, which ended his career as a firefighter. At times things seemed very dark, but as I sang these songs and rocked my girls, God, my Heavenly Father, was singing over me, calming my restless spirit as I tried to calm my restless babies.

He will quiet you with His love...

What a sweet time that was, and oh, the lessons I learned!

spring break

Two weeks ago our family drove down to California (about a 16 hour drive) to visit family for Spring Break. We had a wonderful time visiting moms, dads, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. God is so good to fill our lives with people to love and people to love us! My kids were in heaven with doting grandmas and aunts. We savored the sunshine and the green grass, conversations over tea and coffee, and watching our kids run around barefoot.

My husband and I were able to spend a night at a bed and breakfast in Mendocino. It was wonderful to see, smell and hear the ocean again!

We drove all night on the way down to California, but drove during the day on the way home. This was an interesting experience with 4 small children. We watched a few movies, read from Farmer Boy, and took naps. We were excited to stop at a Trader Joe's in Bend, OR (we don't have one anywhere near us) to stock up on a few of our favorite items. My kids thought it was a playground...they were literally bouncing off the walls. I decided not to stress out about it too much because it's very unlikely that I'll see any of those people again. I decided that if I got any strange looks from moms who would never let their kids act that way in a store, I would just smile politely and say, "they've been in a car for the past 8 hours," and push my little cart to the next aisle.

We arrived home early Friday morning. After unpacking and doing a bit of laundry, my husband and kids took me to the airport that night--about a month ago, my dear friend, Emily, planned an all expense-paid trip for me to visit her in Seattle! Hopefully I'll be able to sit down and write about my wonderful weekend soon.