redo 2

 Happy Monday - I hope all is right with your world, wherever you are!

Today is another project day - redo #2 in fact. I turned a bulletin board into a display space for my bracelets. That way I can see all of their beautiful colors and shapes at the same time. Most importantly, looking at them simply makes me happy :) All lamp work beads and semi-precious gems were creatively put together by my talented friend Dana Leach.

This black frame began it's life as a custom made, white, shabby chic-looking frame. When the white just wasn't doing it for me any longer, I painted it black, and found some fabric to match with it. I used cork boards directly under the fabric, and secured the cork boards to a large foam core board the size of the frame. Then I started making rows of clear push pins, and arranged all the bracelets on the pins.

Here is the finished results. I'm happy about how it turned out! Just one of MANY cool ways to display your jewelry. I have matching earrings for each bracelet... I think I will hang the earrings with the bracelets now :)

I could look at and touch these beautiful beads and stones all day! The shapes, textures, colors, patterns..... they all give me a sense of calm happiness. And for such a simple transformation, what could be better!? 

mo mo mo

mo mo mo... summer fun you guys!

starting out with some of my roses -

the simple things in life I love the most :)

Davy & Liam at Vasquez Rocks, hehehe

I love this photo - I only wish I knew what they were doing

(Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock? Yes? No?)

 Matthew and Sean started sleeping in the tent in the back yard

(although I would usually find them inside in the morning)

 They also took to hanging out in their underwear,

stripping in public and wading in fountains in broad daylight,

and trying on women's stiletto heels at the mall

(I blame this one on Davy)

I love to lay down on the floor. When I'm next to my sliding door in my bedroom, even if it's 100 degrees outside, I can look up into this canopy of trees right outside my room, and feel like I'm up in a tree house with green all around me and a nice, cool breeze blowing :)

hehehe - the very last 3 peanut butter cookies Erika and Davy made

 Caitlin and Matthew right before we went to a wedding reception -

they sure did look nice :)

they clean up pretty well, eh? :)

Aw... and here are our bride and groom! 

Daniel's dear friend of many, many years, Keith Larsen, 

and his beautiful bride Amanda. So HAPPY for them!

~ baptism in Spain ~

I had to save this picture for last, as it touched me to the core. Our friend Andy Mockler, whom Davy grew up with, is serving as an LDS missionary for 2 years in Spain. This photo is of him and a few of his companions, baptizing a young man out in the sea. I thought it was such a beautiful picture in so many ways... it made me so happy :)

no sew

Yup! My own tutorial for this cute little, no sew, tie dye neck roll pillow. (ok, that was a mouthful!) Not that I don't like to sew - I do. But I needed something for my neck STAT, and since my sewing friend Lauren (see other amazing pillows above!) was not in town to hold my hand, desperate times call for desperate measures - or creativity, in my case!

I used a purple tie dye shirt that I rarely wear because I rarely like purple (sorry, Renee - I try). And left-over material from my ancient, de-commissioned pink tie dye shirt (moment of silence, please). I purchased a small neck roll pillow at JoAnne's (can I just tell you how much I hate that place?) on sale for about $7 - it's approx. 6x14. Add sharp cutting shears - and that's literally all you need! 

 First I cut the sleeves off just on the inside of the seams. Then placing the pillow in the top center of the shirt, I just rolled the shirt over the pillow and continued on down to the hem, making sure everything was smooth and tight the entire way down. 

Then I tied a strip of pink tie dye fabric to each side of the pillow - pigtail style - where the extra purple fabric remained. Almost like wrapping a present - again, making sure everything was nice and tight. And that's it. DONE! Now you have a cute little neck roll pillow for when your head is going to explode and you need to lie down  you've got to escape the mayhem in your house and hide in your room for 10 minutes  your back feels totally shattered and you need to lay flat on the floor  you want another cute pillow to put on your bed! YAY! And remember: you can wash it and put it right back on! 

Awww, so CUTE! 

Alright, it can't compete with Lauren's... but that's okay :)

Don't forget to use one of the sleeves to make Luna a little scarf!

even mo summer fun

 Foot fun... I can't help it :)

Mo flowers... they just make me so HAPPY :)

Caitlin and Matthew at the beach :)

(he looks so old here it's freaking me out man)

personalities come out, hehe :)

(it's no fair that anyone looks that good in a swimsuit)

 John's band, Primrose Gardens, performing at "It's a Grind"

Darryl, Evan, special appearance by Davy, and John

Laying down those awesome harmonies :)

the kids in Ojai - life is rough, hehe :)

 we're still working on the Mouse's "British Invasion" room...

... still needs paint, curtains, etc. but it's looking good

WHY do you suppose every time I see my huge white, fluffy pillow 

out of the corner of my eye, I always think Luna is on my bed??? :)

HAHAHAHA! 

Okay, this SERIOUSLY has to be one of my all time fave pics 

of the Mouse! At his best friend Sean's ranch in Tehachapi, 

wreaking havoc by chucking chickens :-0 

(no, they don't hurt them - I'd knock his block off!)

*even mo MO summer fun to come!!!
and some cool stuff I've been working on!

mo summer fun

 Sunflowers! The happiest flower on earth!!!
(if you don't like sunflowers there's something wrong with you)

 Salt Lake City - our adorable niece Kaylee fixed dinner for our 

oldest son Daniel. HOW did they get to be 25 years old?!?!?

 Daniel showing off his first tie dye attempt - COOL!

 2ond awesome tie dye attempt! Is he my son or is he my son! :D

Surprise photo Daniel sent to Davy, holding Davy's band's new EP

the Mouse at Disneyland... a baby koala Micky hat???

(is it just me or do the ears look like waffles...)

 Disneyland *SCREAM* photos :)

These guys are masters at making different faces every time!

They have hoards of scream photos - all hysterical!

(Liam, Ashley, Davy, Matt)

The happiest place on earth, of course :)

Davy, Elise, Georgia, Liam, Ashley, Matt, and Val

*LOVE THEM*

Surely you didn't think I'd leave out my GROOVY new cup!

~ Stay tuned for even mo summer fun AND mo projects ~

woodshop chic

Just a cute little project I wanted to share. Those of you with kids in junior high/high school will probably at some point be presented with the items they have made in woodshop class. In this case, the Mouse made a banana hanger and a napkin holder. I loved them because he made them and wanted to use them because they are functional. But you know me - I love color! So with Mouse's approval, I put my own little twist on his creations.

Super easy to just paint a few coats of red on the bare wood. Then I used stick-on white polka dots because I knew I could never paint the dots as perfect as I wanted. Then a few coats of spray-on clear gloss finish. (please excuse my extremely summer-challenged yard...)

 CUTE, CUTE, CUTE!!!

I'm really happy with how they turned out! They add some great color and personality to my very bland kitchen, and I love that the Mouse made them :)

weekend fun

I've been a slacker but just look at that glorious mess above - that's fun right there. Nothing like eating homemade nachos and painting your nails! My adorable church girls Kacy, Tori and Chelsea came over Friday night to eat, talk, laugh, paint nails, and watch movies. SO, SO FUN :)

We were experimenting with a new technique... pouring drips of polish on the surface of water and then dipping your nail in. The result is a colorful, marbled, tie-die look. Very cool! Unless you're me :/
Tori: There are so many great color combinations, I don't know what to choose!
Me: They all look great. Choose one! I've done my thumb 13 times now and it still looks like Shrek exploded on it.

Meanwhile, in the other room there was a very loud and animated game of I-can't-remember-what-it's-called going on amongst Davy and his friends. All I know is they slap each other around a lot, laugh a lot, yell a lot, and Erika usually wins. 

More friends squeezed in later to watch a movie and say goodbye to Liam's friend Matt who had been here visiting from England. Let's see... from bottom right going clockwise: Erika, Davy, Matt, Darren's legs, John, Liam, Elliot, and the Mouse on the floor. Oh, and did I mention my husband and his singing partner were in the studio practicing? No? It was a VERY loud, and VERY lively, and VERY awesome Friday night!

Here are the results of my first attempt at nail dipping. Okay, maybe not so impressive :/ And I finally gave up on my Shrek thumb. But I do think it's cool how the nail on my pointer finger vaguely resembles the Union Jack flag :) And I will definitely try dipping again! Most of all I just *loved* having my girls over :)

Saturday all the boys went and saw "Cowboys and Aliens", and Saturday night we had Round Table pizza OF COURSE. When we got home from church on Sunday, John said he felt like making a cake. (but you have to say it "KECK" like Martin Short in Father of the Bride) John's "KECK" turned out great! I like how he enjoys making little curlycues with the frosting, hehe. He's always done that :)

YUM!