Saturday Snapshot: My Parent's Garden

When I was in third grade, my family moved to a different neighborhood.  I was devastated.  Our backyard was a huge, flat, grassy oasis.  It had flower beds, climbing trees, a swingset, and a sandbox.  It was every kid's dream yard!  My new backyard?  Not so much.  But as I got older, I grew to appreciate all the plants and beds that filled our woodsy backyard.  It's its own kind of oasis.

Painted Fish Stones

I have done a lot of little projects with river rocks, but these projects tend to favor the smooth, flat stones.  I always end up then with a pile of river rocks that are bigger and bulkier with more indents and character than I typically want.

The other day, I was looking at this pile of cast off rocks when all of a sudden, one of them stood out to me.  "That looks like a whale!" I thought to myself (I might have said it out loud, but my dog Inga is the only one who could confirm, and she was unavailable for comment).  So, I decided to grab a pile of my rejected rocks and paint them to look like fish.

This is pretty simple to do.  You only need to keep in mind two things:

1. Stay with the same color scheme on each fish
2. Work with, not against, the natural shape of the rock

Use white and colors nearby on the color wheel to mix and blend your paints into different hues, and just keep building color until you are happy with the result.

What I love about this is it can be as simple or as detailed as you want!

Mother's Day Watercolor Rose Card

It's been a while since I played around with my watercolors, but Mother's Day seemed like the perfect occasion to get them out again.  All I did was start with a blank card and a sheet of watercolor paper.  I painted a rose in several layers, did a little hand lettering, and then simply cut and paste the painting onto the card.

I like starting with a blank card instead of making my own because I always end up with crooked cards that just don't look right :)  I might end up adding a few more details like leaves around the edges in gold, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I'm certainly not experienced in watercolor, but I like how malleable it is- even if you goof up, you can undo most of it!

I'm excited for Mother's Day this year - we are having my family over and cooking some tasty food out on the grill (Mom's choice!).  What are you doing for Mother's Day?

DIY Cork Inspiration Board

As if my addiction to Target wasn't bad enough, our local store recently upgraded its craft aisle.  You guys.  It's too much amazing.  And it's also where I got the idea for this project: this four pack of cork squares was just what I was looking for to make an inspiration board to hang over my craft area.

To make your own, you will need:

• 4 pack cord board
• Gold paint
• White paint
• 1 inch wide flat paint brush
• 3M wall hang strips

This was beyond easy to do, and it took me about 30 minutes from beginning to end, including hanging time!

First, you'll want to paint on a base stripe of white around the edges.  The cork is very absorbent, so you need the base coat to allow the gold to shine (pun intended).  Use your paint brush as a guide for the width.  If you're nervous about making straight lines, you can use painters tape.  But don't forget that, as with all things in life, it doesn't need to be perfect.  Then, once the white paint is dry, layer the gold paint on top.  That's it!

The best part is that you can hang these up with 3M strips!  (It's perfect for apartments and dorms!)

My little "office" area ... before

And my little area after!

I toyed with all sorts of design ideas: taped on patterns with spray paint over them, shapes, layers, etc.  But in the end, I thought that giving the boards the appearance of gold frames was best.  The end result is simple and pretty, and the perfect backdrop to display all your inspiration.  I've put up a recipe, a picture that gave me a DIY idea, an artist's post card, some love, a little bit of climbing inspo, and (of course) Rita Ora twirling in a field of flowers.

What's inspiring you lately?

Who Do You Follow?

I am looking for blog recommendations!  I want some more blogs to follow, so tell me what your favorites are.  I like craft and cooking blogs, but I really like fashion blogs.  I especially want to find some up-and-coming blogs (as opposed to the monster blogs everyone is following).

So, what do you recommend?

Champagne Bud Vase

I had a vase of spider mums that were a little past their prime.  One lone flower, however, looked like it could be saved if I trimmed the stem down far enough.  If I did this, though, the flower wouldn't fit into the vase anymore. So, I decided to get creative and pop it in a champagne flute!  I also used a small shot glass when one of the carnations in my Valentine's bouquet broke off.

What sorts of things around the house do you use creatively?

Avocado with Salmon

I originally posted this dish on Instagram.  I hadn't planned on sharing the recipe because I thought it was too simple, but let's be honest: the simpler, the better some nights!

For two servings, you will need:

• 1 avocado, halved
• 1 can of salmon
• 2-4 radishes
• 2 teaspoons mayo (more or less to taste)

Cut the tops and bottoms of your radishes off; it makes slicing them on a mandolin so much easier! Use a mandolin to thinly slice the radishes, then cut them in halves or quarters.

Drain the salmon and combine in a bowl with the sliced radish and mayonnaise. Remove the pit from your avocado and fill each half with the salmon mixture.  I sliced up extra radishes to crunch on as a side, but if you're feeling less healthy, it would be SO good with potato chips! :)

Enjoy!

New Year's Resolutions

Every year, it seems that I make a giant list of things I'm going to do, chores to tackle, projects to create, and fitness levels to reach.  This year, I'm keeping it simple: complain less, enjoy more.

What are your resolutions?