Fish Scale Flower Pots

I feel like I'm on the edge of a cliff about to jump off. Its a fun cliff mind you, but a cliff none the less. What I mean to say is that this week is going to be one of the busy-est weeks of my Spring so far. Work, a conference, baseball games, birthdays {and two parties which includes treats for preschool, daycare etc}, a Sunday School event, and decorating a parade home. So, if I'm a bit scarce this week, keep the schedule in mind! 

Projects for me are very centering. They allow me to step outside of myself for a little while and be crafty....very therapeutic! Thus today's project.

Fish Scale Flower Pots

Never one to leave well enough alone, I bought these two teal pots for my back deck but knew they needed a little something. {They were $5.99 each at Target}. Last year I did the monogrammed pots for my front porch. I wanted something else this year. I was thinking stripey but wanted a more organic shape for the outdoors. Thus the fish scales.

This project requires:

• a pot or two
• a paint pen
• spray gloss or sealer {just to be safe}
• pencil and template

I started by taking the round lid to my kids vitamin bottle and tracing it on a paper plate. I cut the circle out and this became my template.

Fold the cardboard template around the top edge of the pot for the right sized scallop look and trace with a pencil. Do this all around the top of your pot.

From here, I went freestyle! Meaning, I just went from the center of one scallop to the center of the next and so on all the way around.

To make sure my paint pen wouldn't come off with repeated rains or waterings, I sprayed it with a light coat of clear gloss.

And now they are ready for flowers! We are just about past the hard freeze threat here in Michigan so my Memorial weekend will be filled with lots of gardening projects, not least of which is filling these pots. 

Don't mind my absence this week, I will be back with more next! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Simple Baseball Cake

We've got a lot of crazyness going on around here today in the form of several 9 year old boys for a birthday  party. It was my only day off this week and I had a ton to catch up on! {This house looked like a tornado hit it!} My son Brady wanted a baseball cake for his birthday, and for lack of time to complete some of them many other projects I thought I'd share this simple cake with you along with an amazing tip for piping frosting!

The cake is just a box white cake. It was baked in a Pyrex glass bowl. Just make sure you grease it well!
My cake took about 40 minutes but just keep checking yours until its done.

Don't worry about the flat bottom of the bowl. Once its frosted, you won't even know!

For the baseball I wanted a really white frosting {which meant no butter}. I decided to use the filling for whoopie pies {from an old Pennsylvania Dutch recipe} because it doesn't use butter.

Here's the basic recipe:

2 egg whites beaten until stiff peaks form {then set aside}

Mix together:
1 1/2 cups shortning
1 1/2 teas. vanilla
4 Tablespoons flour
4 Tablespoons milk
4 cups powdered sugar

Then fold in your egg whites gently.

Set aside just enough for your lacing and color this red.

Frost your baseball with the white frosting. On off-set spatula is a must for this part.

Now here's the fun tip for piping your laces. 
First, get you out your plastic wrap and put the frosting in the middle.

This is the perfect amount. I tried this the other night with a lot more.......

and when I went to twist it {by picking up both ends and whipping it around} Oh, yeah, you guessed it, I was wearing the frosting as was the floor and counter! Not pretty!

Fold the top down and the bottom of your wrap up lengthwise and twist the ends.

Get out your piping bag and snip off the end adding you inside cuff, like this.

Now put your frosting package in the piping bag and pull one end of your plastic wrap through, pulling tight then sip off the end as close to your piping tip as you can.

Now you can put on your tip!

You are ready to rock! And you wont squeeze frosting out of the back end or make a big mess. When you are done frosting just pull the leftover frosting  out of the bag and you can reuse your bag another time!

Back to the cake, use your piping bag to make your laces. This is simple to do, but if you made a mistake gently scrape off the red {repair with leftover white} then start again. {It almost sounds as if this happened to me!} ;)

And there you have it. A simple baseball cake that your kiddos will love!

We added a "9" to ours for Brady's birthday!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm sharing this here:
Tatertots and Jello
Its Overflowing

Custom Made Pillow Tutorial

If you've ever made your own decorative pillows you know its not cheap to buy the pillow forms {unless IKEA's in your backyard}. I can tell you, its not in mine! We make the trek once or twice a year and I always buy a few pillow forms each time I go. The thing is, I've only found them in one size. And I want something different. Am I asking for too much? 

So I decided to create my only pillow form so that I could have the shape I want. Spoiled, I know!

WARNING: the deconstruction will look a little scary. As in, the massacre of 57 small birds. 

I promise you no birds were harmed in the making of this pillow form {at least not by my hands!}

Here's what we're making:

To begin with lets start with the pillow form. I took a old white pillow case to use as my feather holder.

I folded down the long edge to get a guide for cutting. My goal is the shape of a long thin pillow.

Next I sewed the long side and filled with feathers that I took from my IKEA pillow form. I think an assistant is a necessity with this project and you will want to do this OUTSIDE!

Poor birds! They didn't know what hit em! ;)

Then I held the side shut and stitched it up with my sewing machine using tight small stitches. {We don't want any of these bad boys escaping}.

And here's the result of the pillow form:

Now to make the outside.

I hauled out more of my drop cloth fabric {a canvas drop cloth washed and dried~at any paint or home improvement store}. I cut two pieces to size then decided to paint two vertical stripes on them. I just used some craft paint, painters tape, and a sealer. {Don't want any paint getting on the couch}.

Once its dry you can sew your pillow case inside out, put your form inside and whip stitch it shut. Make sure its really dry. I got rather impatient {I do have a tight schedule} and rushed this process resulting in a few small smudges. Oops!

And here is the finished product:

This was an easy project to do and I love the results!

In other news.....

My baby is going to kindergarten this fall. Last night we had the welcome to kindergarten ice cream social at school. Makes me want to cry!

He's so stinking cute!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm sharing this here:

Tatertots and Jello
Remodelaholic
Funky Junk Interiors
Its Overflowing
Between naps on the porch
Not Just a Housewife

Summer Decorating 101

Its hard to believe that we are well into the month of May already! I am so excited that summer is coming and that has me thinking about changing out my Spring decor for some summery things! 

Today I want to share with you what I love about this season and some simple ways to decorate for summer. 

Summer decorating is all about coastal influences and lightening up. 

Its watery colors and natural elements. 

What better way to inspire you than with lots of beautiful pictures!

I love these colors and the textures!

I'd love to have you pin something but the owners of these pictures deserve the pin credit. Please click on the links to their sites to link directly from the owner. 

Finished Deck

I've been a little M.I.A. lately, I'm so sorry! Life has been really busy lately and my regular life needs me! {You should see the state of my house~ok I wouldn't really let you see it right now!}

I did somewhat finish the updates to my deck and I want to share that with you today. I would love a large area rug here and attempted to make one, but it wasn't very practical and here practicality has to rule!

This is a small deck just off of our dining area. Next to it sits the sand box that the kids love to play in. We don't have the budget to build a new deck so we decided to spruce up what we have.

Here's where it started:

Read my last post to see how it was stained.

Because it is a small deck {10x10} we just wanted an area to sit and read especially after the kids go to bed at night. Two chairs and a small table are all that's needed.

I wanted a lot of color {because I am by nature a neutral kind of girl} and when I found these pillows I knew they would be the perfect jumping off point.

We live in Michigan so I'm taking a huge chance putting any flowers on the deck yet. Its usually only safe here after Memorial day. My mother's day wish list includes two large red pots that will eventually grace the corners of the deck with an abundance of flowers and ivy. Can't wait!

To complete things out here I spray painted the little turquoise lotus candle holder, perfect for a citronella candle on a buggy night. 

I made the "Rest Area" sign from scrap wood and some paint {I will share a tutorial later} which helps to define the intent of the space.

I found the lantern, snail and metal sculpture on sale at Hobby Lobby.

The only other thing missing out here is some shade. I have had two large umbrellas over the years only to have a sudden storm come a long and destroy them so I'm a little gun shy about spending money on another one.

Come on over for a glass of lemonade any time! There's a spot waiting for you!

I'm sharing this here:

BEtween naps on the porch
Thrifty Decor Chick
Remodelaholic
Tatertots and Jello
Funky Junk Interiors
Its Overflowing
Not Just a Housewife