Fairy Garden

I've seen similar Fairy Gardens on Pinterest and have been wanting to make one.  I was in a shop in Des Moines' East Village that sold everything I still needed, so I put one together Saturday morning.  It took about 10 minutes.  I purchased the plants, the two moss-covered stones, the bridge, the patio set, and the blue stones for the brook.  I already had the dirt, container, and other decorations.

There's a little architectural element behind the seating area that's an antique keyhole cover.

The garden is decorated for fall right now.

There's a bridge over the brook with penny stepping stones leading the way to it, and a solar lantern to light the way.

A comedian living in my house put this Polly Pocket in the chair sometime last night. ha. ha.

Flying Typewriter Birthday Card

I made this card for a friend's daughter's birthday who loves old books.  All the paper is from CTMH's new Scholastic paper pack.  The typewriter and mini clip are from SU, but the wings and black bling flourish are from CTMH.

I forgot to take a picture of it until I got to work, so it's a little fuzzy because it's off my phone, but I think it turned out great, and I'm planning to make some more flying typewriters.

Flowers & Tags

I found some new flower-making techniques online and made some examples on tags this weekend.  My Christmas gifts are going to be fancy...if I actually use my tags.  I'll try to get some tutorials for these posted soon.

Flakey Friends with Dakota Cards

I decided to pair the blue papers in CTMH's Dakota paper pack with the new stamp set "Flakey Friends."  I stamped each snowman, and punched them out with a circle punch.  I attached that circle to a slightly larger scalloped circle, and then added at least one paper pieced dimensional item to each card that appears to come out of the circle.  Each card also has some mini opaque accents.  Possibly a future workshop....

Clementine Birthday Card

The colors of this card just seem happy to me.  The paper (and color inspiration) are CTMH's new paper pack Clementine.  The flowers and punched and I cut the banner freehand.

Avonlea Birthday Card

This card has several elements, but it's really simple and came together pretty quickly.  The papers are from CTMH's new Avonlea paper pack.  I freehand cut the banner pieces, punched holes in them and strung them with ribbon.  The ruffle towards the bottom is just folded paper that's been distressed.  I used a lot of CTMH's new Slate ink for distressing.  This might be my new favorite ink color.  The butterflies are from CTMH's "Delight" stamp set.

Sand in Your Shoes Card

"May you always have a shell in your pocket and sand in your shoes."  I found this quote on Pinterest and loved it for a beachy card.  The sunrise picture is one I took at Orange Beach, Alabama.  The background paper is really much darker and is from CTMH's new "La Belle Vie" paper pack.  The flowers and butterflies are also from CTMH.  I freehanded the sentiment with CTMH's new metallic silver pen.

Easy Awesome Key Lime Pie

I LOVE key lime pie.  Here is the easiest recipe ever, and it makes a great pie.   

 

Ingredients:

Five egg yolks

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 Cup Key Lime Juice

Graham cracker crust

 

 

That's all there is.  Just beat the egg yolks and then add the sweetened condensed milk and lime juice.  Beat it well and then poor the mixture into a graham cracker crust.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, and you're done.  It literally takes longer to go to the store to buy the ingredients than it does to prepare it.  You can also add whipped cream or lime slices when serving, but it's great plain too.

Ready for Fall

In June, I re-painted my front porch chair and an old ladder white.  See that post HERE.  It had a definite summer, beachy theme.  Here's a pic of the end result:

It's been a long, hot summer here in Iowa.  After a few months of watering at least once a day, I got a little lazy, so the plants weren't looking so nice.  This is Labor Day weekend, so I decided to change to more of an autumn theme.  Here's a picture of the area now:

The bird pillow was on clearance from Lowe's for $5.99.  The large mum was about $10 and the little one was $1.  I switched the blue insulators for brown, added a mason jar with a candle nestled in unpopped popcorn, and brought the rug out of the basement.  Very little expense, but a completely new look for fall.