Shabby makeover

Ok, my house is up for sale, so I have to keep it all neutral (fancy word for bland).  This is my boring boudoir.

In the meantime, who says I can't do a makeover so my bedroom doesn't look so blah?  Well, I did!  I found some really pretty shabby chic sheets and duvet cover with shams to spruce it up a bit.  The patterns are my favorites...hydrangeas and roses!   I love aqua, sage green, and pink.

(I apologize for not having ironed them...they are a bit wrinkley.)

My Lily Rose liked everything so much that I surprised her with the same mini rose sheet set for her own room.  They match her existing pink/mauve duvet perfectly and she loves it.  The king sized pillows look so pretty when used as bumpers in her room to keep her from falling out of her bed!

Now, if only I can paint on the nice palette/walls...
maybe next time.

Peter Rabbit

We were wondering what in the world was happening to that small patch of grass near the landing of the steps out back.  As much as we love the story of Peter Rabbit, I sort of feel like Mr. McGregor since we caught him nibbling away at the grass and roots.  I think he is eyeballing my precious basil on the patio!  Oh dear!  I still don't have the heart to chase him away.  If only he would just eat the grass far away from the house...sigh.  Feel free to visit us anytime cute little bunny :)

Gram's Garden

HOLY ZUCCHINI BATMAN! 
These bad boys popped up overnight! There must have been super duper miracle grow in her watering can!

We spent the weekend at Gram's house, having fun helping with her new garden.  Lily is learning about all the different kinds of veggies and flowers that we will have this summer.  My favorites are the baby hydrangeas that we planted around the deck.  We are wondering what pretty colors will bloom!
Here she is watering what we call the baby seedlings (zucchini, cucumbers, beets, carrots, and oregano.)

Isn't she cute poking the seeds into the soil?  Actually, the dots were plant food.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that because I enjoyed watching her talk to the "seeds" to make them grow   :)

Crayon Art and Tulips

"Lily and Mama Under a Rainbow"
Medium:  Crayola crayons
Artist:  L.R.M.

(My baby just melts my heart.  Of course she drew us in her favorite color...purple.  Can you feel the love?)

These were our purple tulips before the little purple loving child in the background picked them ;)
They never had a chance...

My Brown Paper Bag Art

Keep in mind, we did this a few years ago when Lily was nearly three.  It may be a little abstract and modern for my taste, but we had fun with the experiment and I will always cherish this loving, family moment.  I had slight problems getting clear pictures without glares...the staircase banisters look somewhat embedded in the shot.  I apologize in advance.
 
The first picture is a close-up of my contribution:  I love earthy, rustic, coral tones...although this picture appears to be red, it is not.

Next up, Lily's art!  She loves the color purple.  For just about anything, she will use purple paint, purple crayons, purple markers, purple playdoh...
I love the lavender, which inspired the matte you will see in the final picture.

The last piece was done by my husband.  A sweet contribution to honor Lily's love of dogs.

And now for the grand finale...(drum roll please...)
Tah-dah!

This family piece of artwork is proudly hung in our dining area.  It definitely creates conversations with our guests.  They are shocked and amazed when we tell them about how it was made.

I would love for us to do another piece, preferably with pastels and more of a soothing, beach theme.  Lily is warming up to the idea of using the other colors of the rainbow.
I hope you have fun and try the paper bag project.  Please share pictures!  I would love to see what you create with it. 

On a hot day, make brown paper bag art! (Recycle those grocery bags!)

You are probably wondering, "why would I want to do that on such a hot day?"  Well, the heat is exactly what one needs to make a really neat, textured, canvas to paint on by simply recycling a brown paper bag. 

First, open the bag and cut a straight line from one corner of the top of the bag all the way to the bottom of the bag.  Then cut out the rectangle bottom and completely cut it off.  You should now have a large rectangular piece minus the bottom of the bag. Even if there is a little "u" notch at the top, that is fine.  Make sense?   Okay, next crumple up the bag into a big ball!  (Perfect to smush out any frustrations!)  Then, completely wet the paper bag with cold water. You can either run it under a faucet or dunk it in a bowl.  It doesn't matter which, because next, you have to squeeze out as much water as you can.  Then carefully open the ball--don't smooth it out, just open it, and lie it out flat to dry outside on a towel or table in the scorching heat.  While it is drying, have a nice, cool, refreshment! (Whatever you fancy, iced beverages, popsicles for the kids...)  Once the paper is dry, which shouldn't take very long if it is 100 degrees out, it will be a really cool canvas to paint or draw on. 

After the canvas dried, we brought the paper into the house to paint in the a/c.  We used some iridescent squeezable paint tubes that already had brushes attached---nice and easy!  (They were some sort of generic, kid-friendly paints that had all sorts of earthy, metallic,tones. )  Everyone in our family had fun painting on the brown paper.  Stay tuned.  I will post a picture of our family art, which turned out so nice, that we had it professionally framed and hung it in our dining room for everyone to enjoy! 

Myrtle Beach

After moving to NC from California, I have not been to a beach in nearly seven years.  I have been longing to take my daughter to a beach other than her huge sandbox in our backyard.  A few days ago, we finally took a mini-vacation to Myrtle Beach.  It was about a four hour drive, and it was well worth it.  Breathing in the warm, salty air reminded me of my childhood spent in South Florida at the beaches on weekends.  Listening to the gentle crashing sound of the waves coming to the shore and feeling the sand roll from beneath my feet as the water drifted back out to sea was amazingly soothing. 

Lily loved jumping in the waves while she held my hand (a precious mom moment for me).  She was very excited to find "shells" which were any broken bits of shell or coral.  After each wave returned to sea, we saw minuscule clams quickly dig their way back under the sand and it was hilarious!  I have never seen anything like it.  Lily was very sad when we got home.  Her tears melted my heart and I simply lifted her spirits by explaining that we will be visiting a much nicer beach very soon.  We are looking forward to another peaceful vacation soon, hopefully at the outer banks of North Carolina and we will work our way up to Mass. and Maine this summer.  ;)