Fresh From the Garden

Freshly picked from my garden today!

Tomatoes, pole beans, strawberries, patty pan

It's not much, but it's enough to make me happy:)

Rainbow Inspiration

I have been seeing rainbows everywhere lately, and so have been inspired to create using a rainbow of colors.

Here are some of the rainbows that have inspired me:

Jasper pointed out this rainbow to us while we were leaving the beach last week. We couldn't figure out where it was coming from. 

Home made rainbow.

and this is a photo in Alive magazine that inspired me to make this....

Rainbow twirl skirt, made from t-shirts.

I have a few more rainbow inspired clothing in my mind, that I hope to make in the near future.

Costume Inspiration

We have some ideas for Halloween costumes this year, though if you ask me right now I couldn't tell you what they are. It's always fun to search the internet for fun and creative ideas too.

Here are some ideas I have Pinned so far:

Source: sewastraightline.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Never Nude! Seriously! How awesome is this? I love it and want to convince Rob to be a Never Nude for Halloween.

Source: familyfun.go.com via Jamie on Pinterest

We just watched "Gnomeo and Juliet", and I think this would be adorable as a costume.

Source: thedailygreen.com via Jamie on Pinterest

This is a whole other kind of creepy. A lot of work, but if you were looking to freak people out, this will accomplish the task.

Source: thedailygreen.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Fun! There is so much you could do with this costume.

Source: thedailygreen.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Cute!

Source: thedailygreen.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Original.

Source: grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com via Jamie on Pinterest

and adorable! If any of you choose this costume for your little on, please share! I would so love to dress one of my guys up as a sock monkey, but I am sure they would not approve.

Taking it off auto

This past weekend, I decided it was time to make the move. I took my camera off auto and switched to manual mode. I was nervous and apprehensive, but I did it. I mean it IS digital, so what's the big deal?

I played with the aperture and, ISO a bit, but mostly the aperture. Adjusting the shutter speed to meet the light requirement for the aperture setting.

I like having the aperture open all the way for a blurry background, but with my camera, or maybe it's the lens, I have to be very close to the subject for the background to blur.

Here is a picture of Rob with the aperture fully open. The background is not blurred at all.

Same aperture, closer to Rob. The background is blurred.

Here is a photo I took months ago. Same aperture, but very close to the subject. The background is very blurred. So now I know how to get that look.

Here are some photos taken on the weekend that I just wanted to share because they are of my boys, so are of course more for the cute factor:

They love jumping off of things.

When I look at this picture, I can't imagine how he landed this.

King of the mountain.

Look at that beautiful face.

Having a little rest after all that jumping. 

Sewing for Boys

I was so excited when this book arrived on Monday! and have been flipping through it over and over!

There are patterns included with the book, which I am over the moon about! I know, I am over using my exclamation marks, but I am just so excited!!!!!! 

I have been making all my clothing without patterns. Measuring out each piece. every. single. time. I sew. It is such an amazing gift, to finally have some patterns to work with. I know there was always the option of buying patterns, but I was resistant for some reason, and I was just getting myself ready to start making patterns, when my book finally arrived. I'm sure I will still make a few patterns of my own, but for the most part I will proudly use the patterns in this book and give them all the credit they deserve:)

Unders Failure #1

I attempted to make these super cute boxer briefs last night and unfortunately failed hugely.

Source: sewastraightline.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Mine look like this:

I tried to stretch the left leg so it would fit the center piece,

and the back piece is much too short for the legs, so maybe I didn't follow the pattern, or maybe the back 

piece for the pattern is not long enough. Either way I am a bit disappointed, but now it's time to try again.

Chocolate Bowls

Yesterday we had a decadent snack before dinner. We have a craft book I found at the thrift store for the kids. One of the projects is making chocolate bowls. In the book they line bowls with tin foil and then paint melted chocolate onto the tin foil. Last week I found an easier way to make the bowls using a balloon. The balloon is dipped in the melted chocolate, left to harden on a tray, and then the balloons are popped, leaving a bowl behind.

Rob bought chocolate ice cream last week, and so we decided to try out the bowls for ourselves.

Only one bowl was thick enough not to have holes in it. It helps to oil the balloons first so they peel off easily, but not too much oil or the chocolate won't stick. Also, to wait until the chocolate has cooled a bit. The chocolate goes on thicker once it has cooled a bit. 

Delicious! We added strawberries from our garden, and some bananas, not from our garden :)

Next time we will make the bowls smaller. They were way too big and I couldn't eat even half of mine. I'm thinking we will go with the water balloons next time.