Peonies....in August?

I love peonies...they just burst forth happiness the first of June. And then the die the second week of June. Well, thanks to Design*Sponge, you can have them all year long!

After seeing this on their website last week, I decided I had to try.http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/08/diy-project-peaches-coffee-filter-flowers.html

Now, mine are quite as good just yet, but this was my first try! And I'm pretty proud of it!

Now, I used a silk stem cut off some silk flowers I was playing with earlier. And since I was using el cheapo-scotch tape, I stuck a straight pin through the middle for a little stability. I also tucked a bobby pin around the base to keep it pinched. The strength of the masking tape would probably alleviate this need, however. My colors aren't quite as bright since I used food coloring instead of paint, but the pale colors are pretty too.

What do you think of my hypo allergenic posies??

Trash to treasure

Dumpster diving yields all sorts of fun things -- like Alpha bulletin boards. I made it prettier. :)

Opinions, please!

Okay, this is by far one of the projects I'm most proud of this summer. And it all came about quite by accident. Mom and I were discussing "short" knitting projects, since knitting takes so long. And honestly, knitting is a winter activity for me. But I thought, what about napkin rings...that wouldn't take long? So I had to try it, and this blue fuzzy yarn was just too fun. (Paul says it looked like I skinned Cookie Monster....I say, what better skin for a napkin ring?) With just a little white button to "hold" it all together.....what do you think???

Creature Comforts

My muscles are sore from moving ALL of our furniture around this weekend. Thanks to my Uncle we got a gorgeous dining room table as an early Christmas present -- and it wasn't a Kitchen table, mind you, it was a Dining room table. So we had to make a dining room to put it in! There will be pictures to follow, I promise. But for now...a little something I was working on last month.

It was a wooden book, a little decorative piece. And now, it's a pretty decorative piece! It is now sitting on my kitchen counter...until I get the nerve up to redecorate my desk at work! I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but now I'm quite in love with it. Any thoughts?

Summer Favorites

I love summer. Food, sun, schedule...with it's gloriously slow days and busy nights, warm air, and that beautiful, energizing sun that goes missing so quickly come November. So this post is dedicated to enjoying the product of those sun rays -- fruit!

Our neighbors have an apple tree, and they let us a pick some...so we made our first ever, totally from scratch (Crust and all!) fruit pie. Seriously, the best apple pie I've ever had!

I love peaches too. They just taste like August, and they are the best color ever! I had to include this picture 'cause they're just pretty!

And speaking of pretty, I was telling Paul I learned to eat certain food because it was pretty. Take peppers and tomatoes for instance....the color is just phenomenal, and they just make you want to taste them! And I found the pretties vegetables at the farmer's market this week. And look, a purple pepper! I've never seen one before...and I can't wait to try it.

I'm working on strawberry jam, as I type too. There is nothing better, or a prettier ruby red color, than homemade strawberry jam. And as Paul doesn't like it, I have it all to myself!