My Garden

So I decided to build an above ground garden box and grow my own garden this year for the first time. Turns out that gardening is much harder than I had thought. I guess the biggest frustration are the bugs! As you can see by the tomatoes below, the bugs seem to enjoy eating them long before they are to turn red. I need to research how to keep them off organically. Another problem is my tomatoes were splitting. I learned that is because I was giving them too much water, causing them to grow too fast.

But I have gotten some good produce from my garden. Some have been Cilantro, used on our carne asada's, lettuce, and a bell pepper used in homemade salsa.

Another is Basil. I have a lot of basil!
I also had some pine nuts in my fridge that needed to be used up. So I toasted them in the oven and
then put the nuts, basil, olive oil, garlic and Parmesan cheese into a food processor and made Pesto! The kids and I enjoyed it spread on hoagie rolls, topped with feta and broiled. I also grilled some chicken and spread it on top and then added some to linguine. Such yummy meals!

Another thing that did grow well were carrots. We ate them raw and with a roast.

Then after we had had our fill, I peeled and cut up the rest and boiled them till soft. I really need to invest in a steamer. Then put them into the food processor with a few tablespoons of the water they cooked in.

and pulsed away until they were pureed.

Next I added them to an ice cube tray to freeze. Once frozen, I popped them out and put them into a freezer bag. Whenever I make ground beef, macaroni-n-cheese or tomato sauce, I can add a few squares of carrots for an extra (hidden) veggie.

Tea Party Decor

I was in charge of the decor for my churches Mother/Daughter Tea back in May. We were on a very tight budget, but I still wanted it to be girly and special. I cut out various shapes on my Silhouette, but forgot to get pictures of most of them. :( Then I bought a 2 flats of flowers for $1.99 at Rite Aide and added them to plastic vases I had found at Target (2 for $1) and added the die cut shapes to them.

This first picture here is hard to see the shape, but lets you see the flowers in the pot. The shape is of two little girls sittin at a table having tea.
This next one is a teapot. We also had teacups and the word Mother.

I really like the favors. It is a kit-kat bar wrapped in scrapbook paper and crimped ends. Then I took another strip of paper and wrapped it around and topped it with a fabric flower. Our them was A Mother's Love, is a Gift from Above.

Turtley Awesome

I made this card for my dad's birthday back in February. I love the turtle's big eyes! After I cute out the turtle's two layers, I ran the shell thru my cuttlebug (I forget the embossing folder's name) to give it a more textured look. Then I put orange paper down first, with the desert print paper on top and added the turtle with pop dots. The stamp is from My Pink Stamper.

Boy or Girl?

My brother and sister-n-law are expecting their third child soon and the gender is to be a surprise. So when she had her baby shower a few weeks ago, I made this card to incorporate both sexes. The card turned out cute, but was a royal pain to make. The onesie has so many small details to it that the silhouette just couldn't cut them out on these tiny die cuts. So I had to ungroup the onesie on my computer screen and remove all but the heart and lines around the diaper area. The die cut onesie's were cut out at 1 1/2 inches each.

Cowboy Hat Invitation

This is the last thing I have to post on from my son's rodeo party. This is the invitation that was sent out to all the guests. It is pretty basic, I just cut out the three pieces on my Silhouette and glued them on.

The front of the card flips up to reveal the wording inside, which I printed out and cut with scalloped scissors.