Garden Love

I love Gardening. I love the feel of soft dirt in your hands, the fresh smell of seedlings sprouting out of the ground. I love the way the water sounds when it is running down a row of vegetables, the feel of a good effort tug to pull an onion out of the ground, and the crisp way perfectly ripe peppers pick off the bush.  I love all of it.  For about 10 minutes.  And then the truth of gardening sets it.

The runny nose and itchy eyes. The swarms of black ants that seem to come out of no where and attack my toes. The itchy leaves of everything I plant and the painful callous on my hand after only having attempted to hoe one square foot of weeds with 20 more to go. The way it all of sudden got 20 degrees hotter in a matter of minutes once you step out into the garden and the way those blue mountains go almost instantly silver too.

I guess you could say, I love gardening in theory. I'll tell you what I love. I love wandering around my pretty yard with a water hose in one hand and a cold beer in the other, lazily watering the flowers that have managed to survive, no thanks to me. I love picking a few veggies here and there and then making one trip back into the house to wash them. I love arranging pretty rocks I've found into neat shapes and slowly creating my own rock path. I love painting random  bits of junk and adding them into the flowers to make neat yard art. I love bottle trees and wind chimes. I love flowers that dangle out of pots and vines growing up fences. I love bird feeders and rusty trellises.

I think I am destined to have a gypsy garden and yard. Currently my papa has brought the yard back to life, and for that I am thankful. I am also thankful that he has finally caught a glimpse of my vision and is on board to help me dig up the old path and put down a new one, complete with a garden fence and unique gate.

So here a few pictures of our wonderful transformation over the past year. Hopefully with a little more elbow grease we can continue to build a beautiful backyard and I can start adding that gypsy touch! 

My Backyard Feb 2013   (depressing & hopeless)

The Backyard July 2013  - What a Difference!

Stanton helping Papa plant Canna Bulbs

some bright paint

look how beautiful they are now!

he loves exploring the garden

DIY: Music Leaf Fall Swag

I tend to get crafty every now and then and figured, hey, out of all the fun stuff I attempt to make or paint, why not share it on the blog too. So, here goes my first attempt at a DIY tutorial.

First, while I have been known to come up with many neat-o ideas all on my own, this one stemmed from a Pinterest inspiration photo that I tracked down to the original site.

You can find the original post of this gorgeous book page leaf swag at Nesting Place  (I encourage you to check it out because she actually did a lot of cool things with paper and is super creative.)

So admit it - you can already envision this swag somewhere in your own house, adding that character and new fun twist on the same-ol-same-ol fall decor we all play into. I was the same way. I thought, hey, why does fall HAVE to be orange, red, and yellow? Let's try something new.

So...






 Step 1: Gather your Materials

I actually began this project before I read the blog on it, so my initial list of materials included:

Old books I won't feel guilty ruining
Thin floral wire
Glue
Tape
Tissue Paper for the vines
Wine
Fresca





My main rule when crafting is to spend as little money as possible. I went to our local thrift store for books and ended up uncovering a trunk of old sheet music. And when I say old, I mean OLD. These pages were not only gorgeous quality paper but had also already turned all those awesome shades of vintage people kill for. (okay, slight exaggeration but you get my point.) I cut a deal and walked out with a huge stack of music and a few old books for less than $20. Another $4 on floral wire and that was it. I already had a few random packs of darker tissue paper, a bottle of craft glue, and half a roll of masking tape. Brown craft paper would work well too. My main thought behind the materials is that depending on where you want to place the swag, the lighter it is the better. You want it to drape easily across a curtain rod without whoever put said curtain rod up fussing at you about breaking it. Just saying.

As far as the next two items on the list, they bring me to . . . 

Step 2: Make yourself a Drink

Not gonna lie, my best creative moments are usually alcohol enhanced. It just makes me braver. And craftier. And helps me think outside the box. I encourage you to try the same. Now don't get lit, there's nothing worse than a drunken craft, so that's where the fresca enters the picture. Get a nice glass, fill it with ice, and go half and half with a cheap Cab-Sav and the Fresca. Don't be a wine snob either. Wine snobs suck. So what if you've harnessed your palate to appreciate an $80 dollar bottle of wine? You can appreciate the $3.50 bottle from DG too. It's fabulously interesting (see the positive spin I did there?) and you won't feel guilty pouring it over ice or mixing it with Fresca. Because here is some free life advice: Fresca is God's gift to us and should be put into most things you drink. It makes orange juice bubbly, Marg-beer-ita's spritz-ier and sangria sparkle. And it has zero calories. What more could you want my little glitter-bug?  So drink up, and plant yourself on the floor in front of the t.v. and have Pride and Prejudice ready to go mainly because it is just a great movie and has a wonderful soundtrack with equally beautiful scenes and is basically one of my favorite movies. I like my crafting zone and encourage everyone to get to that happy place when tapping into your artsier/craftier side.

Step 3: Make Some Leaves

I may or may not have done mine the more complicated way but oh well. It made sense to me. I made two patterns and then, after tracing them onto a sheet of music, cut out the leaf shapes about 5 sheets at a time. The blogger said she cut them without a pattern individually, 5th grade style by folding the paper in half and making a generic leaf shape. I say to each his own. Whatever floats your boat, blows your skirt up, tickles your fancy, what have you. Just cut out a bunch of leaves. Full page size. Don't be afraid. Who cares if you waste music sheets. Like you actually play the piano anyhow. I kid, I kid.

(But as a side note, I did try to choose music that I knew wouldn't kill my mother since she does play. I picked a lot of Organ music. I mean, who likes organs anyhow?) 

And just when you think you have enough leaves, cut more. There's nothing worse than getting started into building your swag and having to stop and make more leaves. Trust me. I know. I got on a roll making my swag and had to postpone finishing it to another night so I could break out the music again and make more leaves. Agh.

Step 4: Attach "Stems"

Again, the inspiration photo blogger did her project a different way, but I like the idea of using floral wire because it is easier to manipulate each leaf to lay how you want and I also like wiring things together versus hot-gluing. (Hot glue and I have a love-hate relationship. I try to avoid it when possible.)





After folding each leaf in half length-ways, I drew a line of glue down the crease line.









Next I laid the floral wire into the crease, leaving a few inches from the top. Using my fingers, I slowly closed the leaf around the wire, sealing it inside the crease with the glue. Make sure to apply plenty of pressure so the wire bonds solidly into the paper crease.






Fight every urge you get to go ahead and fluff out your leaf! Just lay it aside and let the glue bond for a while before opening the leaf. The crease not only hides the wire but helps give the leaf a really pretty look. Patience grasshopper! It is worth the wait!

Once you've made several leaves, go back through them, starting with the first ones you glued, and carefully open the paper outward.

And ta-dah, you have a paper leaf ready for the vine!














Step 5: The Vine

I didn't take too many pictures of the vine itself because it really isn't more than a hint of color for the project. As I said before, I had an assortment of random dark tissue papers to use. Use what you can find. I would have used a brown paper sack if I needed to. It doesn't matter. Get creative. This is your project. Since I am going to be using this in my dining room I may tie is some turquoise shaded leaves eventually. who knows? It is your project so make it yours!

Simply take the tissue paper and roll it up length ways. Once rolled, twist it, working from end to end. It should look like a rough paper vine. Make a few of these and tape them together to your desired length. I'm wanting to use this across the top of a curtain so I needed mine long.

Once you have your vine, begin attaching the leaves. I looked back at my inspiration picture many times to get an idea of how the leaves should lay and what part I liked best. I liked the fuller look so my swag is pretty pumped up.




 One hard thing to really explain is how to wire them on with out the wire showing. The best way to think about it is to work from the edge of the vine inward. That way you are laying the new leaf on top of the older one, creating a layer effect and thus covering the wire. Practice a bit and you'll figure out what works best for you. This is the really fun part. Creating YOUR vine. I went nuts and it is huge and I just want to stare at it and make more and more for all my windows. Or maybe that's the wine talking.
Who knows but I like it so who cares!

My First Music Leaf Fall Swag

EXTRAS: Why stop at music leaves? If you can tell, I have added some of my favorite card stock paper left over from Stanton's baby scrapbook. I also added bits of curled burlap ribbon left over from a wreath project. The contrast of materials is a nice touch and I am definitely planning on adding a few paper flowers soon!




Hope you enjoyed and try a paper craft of your own soon! Or at least try a wine & Fresca spritzer!

The Game Day Princesses & Other Mythical Creatures

I had seen them before. With their perfectly coiffed hair, flawless makeup, fluttery game-day dresses and sparkly little shoes, the mystery of the game-day princess never ceased to stop me in my tracks the times I'd run across one at Tech. Even though the law school's tailgate was in an entirely separate parking lot, occasionally we'd venture into Raider Gate, and there you could witness these little dolls dressed up in their pearls and teased hair prancing around with their sparkly koozie and can of Michelob Ultra.

Why the hell would you wear that to a football game? was always my first thought upon seeing one. Why the hell are those guys actually taking her seriously, would be my next as I would watch the college boys just about fall over themselves to talk to these dolls. Guess it's the same reason they're wearing those stupid florescent colored shades and fratty short-shorts, would be my last thought as I went on about my way, always feeling a bit of relief that I hadn't gone to a D-1 school. My college football experience was entirely different than that of students from those bigger schools, hell my whole college experience was entirely different I guess, and I have always felt pretty thankful for that.

At my undergrad we wore jeans and t-shirts to games, and denim skirts and jeans to the bar. "Dolling up" was reserved for big events like weddings and such. We just didn't worry about stuff like that and most of the time my crowd was sitting around a fire somewhere goofing around or playing horse shoes in the yard. There was no place for pearls or high heels.

Lubbock was a brief look for me into the ridiculous levels undergrads can go when it came to dressing up (I'd love to elaborate even more on what those sorority girls wore out to the bars and how fun it would be to watch them slowly turn into drunk hot-messes with mascara running down their faces, but that would take a whole other post) - and I didn't really think much about needing to play into it myself. Law school had its own circles in Lubbock and the undergrads were more or less a source of entertainment for us when we needed a good laugh.

So when we arrived in College Station Saturday morning for the biggest game of the year, I had somewhat prepared myself to see these mystical creatures once more. Actually, not gonna lie, I was a little bit excited. There is just something fun about seeing those girls. It's like when you see zebras randomly in a pasture while driving down the road. You just have to smile and wonder. I would almost love to just be a fly on the wall while they get ready, and hear the reasoning behind "oh I think this dress and these necklaces would be perfect for the football game" - because my mind just can't understand it.
But after having only unloaded the beer and put on our sunscreen and already dripping with sweat, I didn't really think they'd be able to survive. It was 11 AM and already the sun was beating down on us and it felt as if you were steaming in a sauna from the humidity. No way could a Game Day Princess survive in this. But alas, I was proven wrong.

No sooner had we made it to the tailgate to meet up with some of B's old friends that I spotted one. There she was, her long hair flowing down her back, perfectly curled, a skinny little headband cutely wrapped around her forehead, and just standing there, casually sipping on her margarita as her sheer little ivory dress rippled in the breeze that apparently was blowing for her and her alone. I couldn't help but stare and become awkwardly aware of the sweat that I could already feel forming on my back and forehead, causing the desperate attempt I had made to curl my hair pointless as it began to stick and cling to my sweaty face and neck. Thank God for my shades because I knew my eyeliner didn't stand a chance. B looked down at me and laughed as I wiped my face. Crap. I couldn't even make it an hour before I was melting into a disaster, in my t-shirt and flip-flops, and all the while that princess was surviving, hell, thriving, in this heat - all while wearing something that belonged at a bar not a tailgate. My mind was officially boggled.

I had just decided she was a phenomenon, a fluke, and blessed with good genes when another princess walked up and they casually chatted and compared bracelets and sparkly shoes. All while sipping their drinks, calm and cool as could be. My God. Who are these girls. Thankfully B was apparently used to seeing this and as we walked from tailgate to tailgate, we joked about the random outfits and get-ups these gals were in. We saw it all, from tight-fitting lacy dresses paired with boots to fluttery white little numbers that threatened to flutter up just a little too high at any moment. All perfectly in place and with no sweat stains in sight. Unbelievable and amazing all at the same time.

After sweating it out through the game and walking out of the stadium, I almost hoped to catch a glimpse of those same girls from earlier. Would they still look as great, still as perfect, or possibly would they have worn down a bit. Sadly, I'll never know. I couldn't find that headbanded girl again or her perfect friend, but I did see something that gave me hope. She looked like a little wounded butterfly, sitting there on the edge of a cooler, with two mismatched socks resting in the grass as her cute pair of boots sat crumpled next to her. She also looked a little drunk, her eye make-up smeared just a bit and her hair flat from the heat and an obvious stain of something, likely beer, down the front of a cream colored little dress. She just sat there, halfway watching the game of washers in front of her and seemingly halfway trying to hold herself up.

Maybe, just maybe, she had been one of those perfect little game-day princesses at one point today. All dolled up and ready for the game 8 hours ago. Maybe she pranced around in her boots and dress, drinking something flirty and giggling through a game of beer pong.

And maybe, just maybe, they really are like the rest of us too.