ABC Wall: Part One

I know that there are many fabulous moms out there who have their babies rooms all decorated and ready for their arrival. I applaud you mommies...really I do because I am soooo not that mommy. I wanted to be...truly I did and I was all ready to do just that. Just before David was born I was taking two weeks off before the DUE DATE and I was going to do all my Christmas shopping and finish decorating the baby room and putting things together. Then...David decided he did not want to come home to a perfectly decorated home but to CHAOS. Sigh...

Thanks to moms and dads who put together furniture we had a somewhat functional nursery. Then we moved and after most of the unpacking (we are still doing this) we still had a semi functional baby room. Now flash forward...my baby is one year old and I am almost there!

For me inspiration comes in waves. I have to let things sit for a few days and let them stew before the "light bulb" hits. This is what happened for my sons room and deciding what type of artwork I wanted to make for the room. I had two criteria: educational and fun.

Here are some of the few things in the room that drew my inspiration:

 Is this wall not begging to be used? A blank wall can bring you endless possibilities. Staring at this wall for several months got me to thinking about something large enough that could be featured there. All those late night feedings led me to the concept of an ABC inspired art piece.

 This is an image of the main piece or furniture in the room. It has 9 drawers and fits about everything. It is a remake that my father did for us. I could not do it at the time because I was pregnant but I did pick the color and hardware. I wanted something he could grow into or that I could use later.

 One of my current favorite items in the room is this rug. It is colorful and whimsical. I can just see David calling out the names of the fruits and animals in the near future. You can also see the light color flooring we have in our home.

 So with an ABC art wall I wanted something that would sort of go with the carpet but still stand out as a feature piece. During a thrift store visit with my little brother the concept of using different frames to feature each letter sounded very fun. So three thrift store visits later I scrounged up all the 25 to 75 cent frames I could buy.

Then came the colors. I wanted the colors to be bright and fun but still sort of go with the carpet colors. These are the pretty ladies I picked up from the hardware store.

What will come of all these items? Its hard to say at the moment but I believe part two will be posted before you know it!

Swiss Chard Chips

Perhaps many of you have seen a recipe like this. But I just cant get over these little green chips! Packed with loads of iron, vitamin C and other fabulous things! Slightly sweet and extremely addictive this are just the snack to make when you need a quick snack to grab! So here's what ya do!

 Purchase one bunch of Swiss Chard...soon you will be purchasing several bunches! Swiss chard has a beautiful green leaf and colorful stock. They come in many colors, such as red (above and below), white, yellow, orange and purple.

 Wash the Chard well and shake it out!

Trim off the green leafy part and save the rest for your chickens if you have any. :-)

 Take your leafy greens and use your hand to tear it up into chips.

 Now your chard is ready to have some seasoning!

 

Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle with salt or, Parmesan cheese or nothing! for this one I added garlic infused olive oil and pink sea salt.

Spread it out over the pan (probably not so much on the pan as this) and get ready to bake it!

 Heat up your oven to 325 degrees.

 Place your chips in to bake for about 10-12 minutes.

 They will come out nice and crispy. Allow to cool on a rack or just like this for a minute or two.

And try not to eat them all right then and there so you can store some for later or give as a gift. Everything looks cute in a jar.

Swiss Chard Chips

Tools: 

Cookie sheet

Oven

Parchment Paper

Hands

Scissors

Ingredients:

One Bunch of Swiss Chard, Washed and leafs cut off stem.

Olive oil (you can use all sorts of infused oil too get creative!)

Salt or your seasoning of choice

Directions:

1. Wash cut and tear your chard greens up till you get a bowl full of chip sized leaves. Shake them up in a colander to get as much water out as you can (to reduce baking time).
2. drizzle with some olive oil and add seasoning. mix well.
3. Spread over one (ore more) cookie sheets. Make sure to use parchment paper so the chips don't stick to the cookie tray. Trust me some will.
4. Heat up oven to 325 and place you cookie sheets in to bake for 10-12 minutes.
5. cool chips and store for eating! :-)

Down the Rabbit Hole...or tea cup?

A friend of mine had an idea for an Alice in Wonderland first birthday party for her adorable daughter. Needed to beef up my portfolio so I offered to hand make the invitations...

Various water color designs for the back ground. This was fun!

Of course you need the Mad Hatters hat to make an apperance!

A few whimsical touches to tell the story...

Work in progress.

The finished products. Getting ready for delivery.

So the story is that Alice drinks the tea and shrinks down again...falling into an empty tea cup. This was a fun concept to draw.

 I hope you have enjoyed my creation and that it may bring you some inspiration for your future projects!

Many Apologies!

So I have been out for a good while but hopefully I can pick myself off the floor for a minute and get back into the swing of things!

Adapting in Nature

My husband discovered this interesting Inch worm on our property to other day. It looks just like the branches on our willow trees. I love to see how natures adapts to get away from preadators. This little guy is trying to keep away from the birds beaks. LOVE.

Adventures on the Ranch: Chickens

Chickens...

How did we come about a dozen (and soon to be more) free chickens? Well it is complicated...

The first two were given to me by a co-worker who needed to find them a home because the family pet factor was wearing down on his kids. I was happy to have them. They escaped their cage on the first day and let me tell you something. IT IS HARD TO CATCH A CHICKEN THAT HAS ACRES TO RUN FROM YOU ON! My thighs are burning just thinking about it!

The next 10 were from some lovely friends who were moving out of state. Very soon we will add two more to our brood. They really are fun.

Lady hens are all about the DRAMA! They fight each other, hurt each other, chase each other and gang up on each other. I mean lady hens are MEAN! But for the most part they dwell together in peace. Especially when there is plenty of food to share.

Here are a few pics of what we have been working on to house them. it is an ongoing project and something I am having fun doing when time permits. The eggs are delicious and we are swimming in them right now if anyone is interested!



My lovely husband finishing the door for the run. I Love my man.




Some sturdy fencing. and a pre-made home off of craigslist. just needs a bit of spit shine and it will look fab soon.




Mary Jane drinking from the smallest water holder...SIGH...




We decided to place the hens by one of our willow trees near the walnut orchard. this give them shade on hot days and a bit of greenery.

 I will post pics of the chickens soon and a few more of the coop as we improve upon it. This is an ongoing project that I look forward to. :-)

Fall for the Front Door

Fall Leaves! I love seeing pictures of leaves falling in Autumn. All the beautiful hues of red, yellow, brown and orange remind me of my adventures as a child growing up. Unfortunately we don't experience much of that in California so I have tried to recreate its magic on my front door. This project cost me about two dollars since I shared materials with my fall centerpiece.

Go to the Dollar tree and pick up these beautiful leaves in a variety of colors.

Start with two leaves and hook them together. This is where you will cascade from.

Add the leaves as you go along to the top of each stem as you can see in the two above pictures.

Keep going till you have enough leaves to satisfy your tastes.

Hang them up and enjoy! Here you can see I changed ideas early on in the project. They way I described above gets you a better effect as you can see in the mid to lower portion. Now I think I need a fall wreath and I will be good to go!