Made for shade

In the heat of the summer, I'm always trying to find ways to stay cool. I love spending time on my patio, but in the summertime the patio just got too hot. My patio gets full afternoon sun and was like an oven. So, we decided to install shade sails. We got the idea a few years back when visiting family in Arizona. Shade sails were everywhere. They even use them over cars in parking lots. The contrasting color of the sails against the blazing scenery of Arizona was breathtaking.

Our shade sails were made by Tenshon www.tenshon.com and are very high quality. The sails are several years old and have not shown any signs of wear, fading or tearing. The fabric is very durable and well stitched. I chose triangles, but they come in a variety of shapes and colors.

Seeing stars

Are you taking a pie to your 4th of July get together this year? Here's an easy way to make it festive. Before putting on the top crust, use a cookie cutter to cut out star shapes in the dough, then place it on your pie. Be careful though, once the dough has the shapes cut out, it can easily stretch and tear. Then, use the cut out dough stars to layer over the holes and bake. So pretty. I hope my pie tastes as good as it looks.

Lemonade anyone?

There's nothing better than a cold lemonade on a hot summer day. It brings to mind warm nights on the front porch swing chasing lightning bugs. So, to remind me of my childhood summers, I created this chalk art.

To make this I enlarged the image of an antique lemonade stand sign to the size of my blackboard and printed it. Next, I rubbed the back of the printout with chalk. Then I taped the copy to my board and traced over it. Now that the image is transferred to the blackboard, all I had  to do is fill in the letters and erase stray marks.

I placed my finished sign over my cabinets in my kitchen. 

Apron Curtains

Here's a great idea for a window treatment in the kitchen, use an apron. Our kitchen window is the focal point of the room and I want it to be interesting. So, instead of going with a traditional window treatment, I used an everyday apron. I took a brightly colored apron I had on hand, wrapped the apron strings around the top of the blinds and tied them in a bow. It was the easiest installation ever!! It looks great and I get so many compliments on it.
 

Upcycled Patchwork Jeans

 After long years of wear and tear, I unfortunately developed tears in the knees of my favorite jeans. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, so I decided to give them a little TLC and add some cute patches to extend their wear.

So how did I do this? Well, first I sewed up the hole to deter further damage.

I looked through my scrap fabrics and found some colorful pieces that complemented each other.

More "Teddy Beans"

I loved the "teddy beans" I made for my son so much, I made another for my niece. "Teddy beans" are basically a bean bag chair, but instead of filling it with styrofoam pellets, you use your childs stuffed animals. I loved how this one turned out. For detailed instructions on how to make, see my previous post on January 26th.

A Valentine Treat

So easy. Take a cake mix for a 2-layer cake, bake one layer in a square pan, the other in a round. Cut the round layer in half to make the heart shape, then frost.