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DEAR READERS:

Sorry for the delay in my postings. My brain has been a blur this week . I will have something new to share this weekend. Until then.........


Dont go away.

Crochet using a T-shirt

My daughter was fixing to throw away some old t-shirts but I told her to save them because I wanted to try cutting them up and making some t-shirt yarn. I wanted to try and crochet it and see if it worked, Then I was just going to crochet a small rug just to see if I could do it.

Well, I got to cutting, stretching and rolling the tshirt string into a ball. Then I began crocheting.
Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I was not expecting anything pretty. This was just an experiment to see what it would do.

As I began crocheting an oval, the rug began to make a bowl. I was a disappointed and then thought, well, I'll just keep on with this and then I will have a bowl. The first colors in the yarn just so happened to be patriotic looking so it goes along with this weekends Memorial Day.

So, I kept on and then I noticed, the bottom was not round enough to be a basket and held it up and my husband said, it looked like a purse. So, I decided, that's what it will be.
Its not the best looking thing, just unique, no way would I use this for a purse but will display it for now.

It just amazed me how it turned out to be bag instead of a rug. This was all purely by accident. Now, I have and idea how to make a purse if I really wanted to get my mind to it.


Linked on make-it-yourself-monday at anoriginalbelle. , make-scene-monday at alderberryhill., todayscreativeblog , nifty-thrifty-tuesday at linda-coastalcharm

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

It was another late night with a sweet tooth. Did I ever mention that I AM ON A DIET? I just can't do diets. I cut back and for a couple days then I'm back to eating. I don't gain weight, I'm just not loosing any.
Oh well, one day I will get my mind to it more seriously. Besides its not Monday yet. ☺.

So, what did I make this time? Strawberry Pretzel Salad. You can find the recipe HERE .

Oh my, It was sooo good. I don't know why its called a salad. It tasted more to me like a tart or cheesecake.

I started with my pretzel crust. made up of sugar, crushed pretzels and butter.

I did not know that pretzels would taste this good baked as a pie crust. You'd never know it was pretzels.

Then I whipped up the the center part that consist of cream cheese, sugar and cool whip.

               Oh, somebody stop me!

Then I added the strawberry topping made up of jello and strawberries.

Let set for a few hours......

And there you have it, A bite of heaven.

Linked on made-by-me-32-linky-party-and-features at jaqsstudio , whatever-goes-wednesday at somedaycrafts  , show-share at southernlovely  , full-plate-thursday at mizhelenscountrycottage , showcase-your-talent-thursday at whats cooking love , delightfully-inspiring-thursday-party at delightful order , sweet-as-sugar-cookies.

Birthday & Beach Weekend

I just celebrated my 43rd birthday on Wednesday. And guess what, I finally got a new camera! Yes! My sweet husband and daughter knew that I wanted needed one. Then when I got to work that morning, the people I work with got me a birthday cake and card. The rest of the day my family called to wish me happy birthday and my facebook wall was filled with friends telling me happy birthday. It was a great day. The next day we went to the beach for a long weekend.

It was cold, windy and gloomy at the beach this time, but that didn't stop the excitement of just being away from home and spending time with my husband and daughter. We did a lot of walking and me and my daughter enjoyed one morning doing an hour of aqua zumba. While I was there my best friend had left me a gift to enjoy during my trip.

It was a cute bracelet and cool cup. Thanks Robin!!

We did not see the sun until it was time to pack up and go home. Meanwhile, I took some pictures of things I often take for granted and never really notice when I'm busy soaking up the sun and waves.

Out of all the shells on the beach, I notice this little broken piece of a sand dollar and it was showing some love.  

Here is a view from under the pier where it looks like there is a door to the sea at the end of it. 

This is a "crabs eye" view of the sand and sea.

Now its time to get back to the real world and hope to visit the beach again soon.

Coconut Bread

After zumba classes I always have a terrible sweet tooth. I know this is not good and defeats the whole purpose of working out. I will often refrain from sweets and gulp my water.

But not this time!....

While surfing through Pinterest, I found coconut bread. Sounds good doesn't it? Yes, I thought so too, so to Walmart I went.
I could see my husband roll his eyes at me as I pulled out the mixing bowl. Needless to say, it was 10:00 at night.

 After I got everything mixed up (not exactly like the recipe because I do everything backwards), I noticed it said to bake for 1 1/2 hours. yikes.

Looking good.

It turned out that it only took 1 hour to cook so we all got to have a small piece before we went to bed. It was tasty but I'm thinking it will be better cool. Just one of those things like banana bread. Its better cool and doesn't have much flavor while its hot. I didn't have "lemon zest" that it called for so I used lemon juice instead and It think it could have used a little more. It was moist and you can definitely taste the coconut. 

I think I will need to try another piece just to make sure its right. ha!

Oh, and you can find the recipe HERE.

Moms Words

Happy Mothers Day. I hope you all think of your mothers today no matter where they are now.

Growing up, my mom would say (and still says) many things that showed me direction and love. but I did not always agree with some of them and some would make me mad. Now that im older and have a daughter of my own I understand it now. This brings me to thinking of some of the things I remember that my Mother would say. I remember it like it was yesterday (really it could have been just yesterday).

Let me humor you with some of the things I remember and I actually find myself telling my own daughter sometimes.

1. "Just pray about it"- This is what she would tell me when I was hurt and confused. At this point, I knew she just didn't have the answer and these words would comfort me, so pray is what I did. and it worked!

2. "Your not going out of this house like that"- This pertained to any thing I wore above my knees or showed my belly button.

3. "Well, then they are not your friends!"- Often I would complain that my friends would make fun of me or be mad at me because I couldn't do certain things. Well, They were my friends and still are, they just didn't understand at the time because they lived with different rules.

4. "Well, your not everybody"- When I really thought I was the only one that could not go or do something I wanted to do. I mean, everybody else did it! Really!

5. "You look like a clown"- This is when I'd put on makeup. Therefore, I would sneak and wear it. Nobody else called me a clown. If they had, Id probably listened to them. Ha.

6. "Your gonna sit there until your plate is clean"- Ok, I would actually sit for long time. and I think it was only when we had butter beans. The dog wouldn't even be around.

7. "Your grounded until your next report card"- She meant this. I was grounded all school year every school year. which leads back to quote #3 and #4 and sometimes quote #1.

8. "You listen to me when I tell you something"- I often felt this one on my behind. yikes!

9. "Stop crying before I give you something to cry about"- This was actually a hard task and by her saying this, it would often bring on more tears.

10. "One of these days, you will have children just like you"- Um...this is the all mighty mother's curse she put on me and all my siblings , but luckily, mine did not turn out "just like me". Shes alot of the opposite. But because of my own daughter, I understand alot of my mothers reasons.

I have the best mom in the world that always worked hard to keep us straight. She worked hard to keep the family together and keep christian pricipals in the home. I know she didn't have it easy and I appriciate all shes taught me and showed me through life. I find myself  more like her every day.

Tonight we all are taking her out to dinner!

What are some of your moms famous quotes??

 

DIY Shabby Wreath

I have been looking for a wreath for my front door. Its not that I cant find one, its just that I'm so darn indecisive! I can never make up my mind and then once I have it narrowed down, I just don't want to spend the money. So I came up with another plan. I made my own by using a full size sheet that I was fixing to throw away and a $5.00 Styrofoam wreath from the local craft store.

I started out by cutting  ripping the sheet into 1 to 3 inch shreds. Note: I did not do this perfectly. I just ripped away at it. The word for today is "Shabby".

Then I began to tie each one in a knot around the Styrofoam. After each few that I tied on, I would trim to to the length I wanted them. Note: This will use up the whole sheet.

Add some decorations such as bows, flowers, etc...

And wah lah. There you have it. A shabby wreath.  Easy enough huh?

Linked on nifty-thrifty-tuesday at coastal charm , todays creative blog , made-by-me at jaqs studio , organize your stuff now, whatever-goes-wednesday at someday crafts , showcase-your-talent, under-100-linky-party , delightfully-inspiring-thursday-party , friday-fun-party-and-features at craftionary.