I have made things grow. MAGIC!

I rarely attempt to grow things from seeds, typically due to a combination of poor planning and bad luck.

This year, I was on top of things!  I grew things from seeds!  I am all powerful!!!! I CAN MAKE THINGS GROW AT MY COMMAND!

(these are carrot seeds.)

We opened up coffee filters, wet them, and placed lots and lots of different kinds of seeds inside, sealed them in baggies and labeled them. I like to label things so much, I labeled them twice- once with Sharpies and also taped the seed packet label to them.  I put them in a plastic lettuce container to percolate.
It reminded me very much of 3rd grade lima beans in paper towels.

They are all nestled on a heating pad, and they are just baby seeds so they dont need light yet. Aren't they precious!

When they were ready (some were sprouting faster than others- squash, carrots and basil were my fastest growing winners.  Rosemary and lavender (2 attempts!) were big stupid non-growing losers. Bell peppers, jalepenos, watermelon, thyme, cilantro and tomatoes were not as fast as the basil but not too far behind.)

Most of them I planted in a big compartmentalized "indoor greenhouse" which I think was a fabulous investment. Other seeds, such as the spouted pepper seeds seen above, I put in the bottom of a plastic container with some holes on the bottom for drainage.
Here it is once it had grown for a week or 2:

Lookit my tiny basils!!! adorable.

Eventually the squash got way too big for its little compartment, and it was still freezing outside, so I did a little creative trasplanting, into containers of stuff out of the recycling bin.

When the magical day finally came that I could plant outside without fearing that my little baby plants would freeze to death, I prepped the dirt (AKA removed the millions of weeds, rocks and twigs that were on my dirt patch I was turning into a magical and amazing garden)

The squash was already thriving in the ground. It got so big so fast I had to plant it.

After planting everything, and letting it grow for about a month, this is the result:

 

If youre wondering what the deal is with the wine bottles, it's my tried-and-true rigged up irrigation system. I have an abundance of LQ and wine bottles at my disposal typically, so I tell myself it's recycling and also keeping my plants watered.

The squash is monster plant now, but those baby plants next to it?  Watermelon.  Started the exact some day. wierd.

I did plant some more seeds, mostly herbs, directly in the ground yesterday, we will see how they do.

Yay!  Seeds-to-plants attempt successful!  I will do this every year! 

Shut the front door!

As we all are probably aware, I have very little concern about altering the appearance of my rental home.  I think if it gets cuter, its an UPGRADE... Or so I tell myself.  I have yet to lose a deposit, but I am also a homeowner with a rental property, and would be pissed if someone made a bunch of changes to my house.

Luckily, my current landlord is my uncle (known lovingly as "slumlord Bob") and I know a batch of cookies will get me out of a whole bunch of trouble.

Lame blue door BEFORE

Cute yellow door AFTER

I chose an appallingly expensive paint-and-primer combo from Valspar (about $45 for the can), and used a little foamy roller, based on the recommendations from younghouselove.com

Lots of light coats were necessary.  It took patience but was worth it for the even result.

I also painted all the fixtures- mailbox, light, house #s, doorknob, etc with brushed nickel spray paint.

I covered everything with a clear coat of spray paint too.

I also have had a heck of a time with my lawn.  It's spotty, and the grass is just not getting green.  It was getting uglier by the day!  There was also a corner of the yard that was all eroded and sloping down and was a total embarassment.

I planted grass seed:

the 1st round did produce the above splendor, but was still spotty, so the 2nd round result is still pending.

For the ugly corner of erosion and shame, I decided a retaining wall was in order.

Some landscaping edging bricks, plants and a bag of soil set me back about $50.

My assistant started by carving out a place for the bricks,

Almost done, just need to put the plants in the ground

Here is the completed project.  I am a fabulous supervisor! 
You can see where there is just NOTHING growing in the surrounding area, it was just a dirt corner.  Now it's cute!    I'll continue to update as the grass seed hopefully fills in to create a lush and incredible lawn.  It should be as fun as watching grass grow!

SEW CUTE!!!! I made a tote bag!

I was having a bad day.  My favorite cure is a trip to hobby lobby, a couple glasses of wine and a sewing machine.  Marvel at my creation!

I have (along with everyone else... stop liking what I like!) fully embraced the Chevron craze.

I plan to enjoy it very much until everyone is sick of Chevron.

 

I chose the cutest summer combo I could think of:  Navy, white, yellow and kelly green. 

I am DYING to go on a boat with this thing, and be all, Oh, this perfectly nautical little bag? I just had it laying around.

Bag complete, Boat invitation yet to be determined.

I bought 1 yard of canvas and liner, and 1 1/2 yards of belt material, also some snaps and ribbon.

I think this may be a good time to disclose I have no idea what I'm doing.  I just guessed as I went along at the best way to do this. 

I cut out matching squares of fabric with the lining.  One big for the main bag, and 2 little for the sides.

I wish I had gotten more belting, I wanted to loop it allll the way along the bottom for extra sturdiness, but I worked with what I had, so I made one side long enough for the straps to reach the bottom for maximum adorability.

 After hemming all the edges that would end up being the top of the bag, I wanted to add my straps. 
Originally I had planned to just make up all one piece of fabric other than the sides with no additional seams, but that was before I didnt have enough strap belting, so I thought the only way to make it look intentional would be to sew a seam along the front bottom, with the bottom of the straps stuck insude the seam.  As if that makes any sense.

See?

Then, I sewed it to the side of the bag, with 2 seams alllll the way up each strap.

You may have noticed that I prefer a zigzag stitch.  there is no good reason for this.

I reinforced the top with a back and forth zig and zag, just to be safe:

Then I attached the other side on the inside instead, with a very cute little square and x

I did end up doing a seam on the other side of the bottom, since I like things to be symetrical.

See?  So now all that is left is to attach the sides.

After the sides were sewn on, the top seemed a little big... Like, floppy. 

So I gathered the top of the sides like a little accordion, and sewed them together:

Much better. 

Finished with a hand-sewn snap and a little bow:

I love it!!!!  And I'm already making one for Kala, cause she loved mine so much. 

And a tiny matching one for her little Maddy.

Update:  Here are the ones I made for my fave girls:

Kala's has pockets inside, and cute polka dots!

Maddy LOVES hers!