recycling project - 4th of july wreath

Here is a simple project that uses all recycled materials. The video was shot in April (for Going Green with Yolanda Green) and was on the air this past weekend.

Materials:
- Two different sized circular objects (in this case - large plate and Tupperware cover)
- Two sheets of cardboard that are slightly larger than the largest circular object
- Pencil
- Xacto blade
- Cutting mat
- Scissors
- Cardboard tube
- Glue
- Fabric scissors
- Old t-shirts in red, white and blue
- Three white stars cut out of white paper
- Tape



This wreath was created for a 4th of July celebration but the colors and size can easily be changed to suit any holiday or celebration that you have throughout the year. I can easily see this wreath at twice the size and monochromatic or multicolored in a different pattern.



If you'd like to have a small laugh at my expense here is a blooper reel that I'm included in at the very end. All I have to say is that the camera man, Scott, is the most patient person EVER! The amount of retakes we do because of my mess-ups is quite awful. So, go ahead and laugh. I did.

colombia 2010

So... we're back from a 20 day trip to Colombia. We visited family and friends and stayed in a small town just outside of the capital Bogotá. The weather was great because we got to escape the crazy summer heat—the highs were in the 60s and the lows in the 40s.

We had a lot of fun things but things could've been better. Little C caught a cold that lasted a few days and then the rest of us fell like dominoes (except D who was the only healthy person in the house). Three treatments with a nebulizer kicked my butt but thank goodness for the soccer World Cup for entertainment purposes while in bed (we are avid fans btw). Needless to say we didn't get to visit or see all the things we wanted to (totally regret not going here), but we made the best of it and we did get spoiled silly.

A lesson I learned: never, ever let the camera battery die on a day when you take a trip to the most beautiful places you've ever visited. The iPhone camera is NO substitute!

Things I'll miss...
The people.
The food.
The mountains.
The architecture.
The people. Yes, that needs to be said again.

I was in such a rush packing and getting things ready for our trip that I didn't have time to write posts for my blog. That's why I posted twice while I was there but I didn't want to exactly let on that my house was alone and available for pilfering!

We got back Sunday morning and I'm just starting to feel like my normal self again. While I get back in the creative mood here are some photos that I'd like to share of our trip. The whole set is on my Flickr stream here. Photos of our 2006 trip are here.



We had a wonderful time, but I do like being home again too.
Does anyone else feel like they live in a palace when they come back from a trip?

the best color palette

This photo doesn't do these flowers justice. They're amazing.



This fuchsia is just stunning in person.



Crisp, bright green and huge! Each lettuce head is about two feet wide.



One of my favorite smells ever. Eucalyptus.



The kids walking through gorgeous fields of lettuce and other veggies.

The photos above are some gorgeous sites we caught this week. The bad news is that I'm on day 7 of a combination of bronchitis + sinusitis + fever and coughing my head off. I've never been this sick before. Ugh. I'll be back next week in full force. Hopefully.

Hope you're all doing well!

inspiration comes through the lens

Just some examples of textures that caught my eye this week (the top three are taken out of town). I have a folder on my computer with these types of random images. I go through them every now and then when I need ideas. They always trigger something—they give me a mental jolt.

On D's head. A pattern begging to be transformed into paper.



Outside our room. It just tells me to breathe.



Over our beds. Some sort of 3D construction swarming in my head.



Yummy paper yarn that I got in the mail. Knitting or crochet needles is the question.



If you're stuck just take a walk and start shooting photos of what you see. Then crop the images and focus on the textures you see in them. Don't be surprised if you catch something that sends you down an unexpected creative path. Just let go and go for it.

• • •

If it seems like I'm holding back from you, you're right and I feel guilty about it. But, I'll let you know what's going on in a few weeks. No worries it's all good!

at midnight

A little visit with my Xacto, a round magnet, glue, scraps of paper (each petal cut out individually), coffee (no it doesn't make me lose sleep) and all my angels sleeping.



I don't have any Friday tidbits today but don't forget that Father's Day is around the corner so here's my tip for today. If you'd like to work on a project with your kids you can try my recent Mother's Day idea. All you need to do is change the color scheme and you're good to go.

Have a great weekend everyone!

thank you

For those of you that still have kids in school, I put together a freebie PDF of lined thank you cards (or gift tags) that your little ones can include with teachers' gifts. I tried posting this a couple of weeks ago but that obviously didn't happen. Some of you can still get some use out of it, I hope.



To all of you that are teachers a huge thank you! I don't know how you do it. I'm always amazed with everything you accomplish in a few months and you truly deserve all the gratitude and appreciation in the world.



The summer has barely started and I already feel much more at ease. The daily driving to and from school, homework and lunchboxes has been replaced with a much slower pace affecting everything—this blog too. I'll be checking in now and then but for now things will slow down quite a bit around here. You get it right? :)

A bit of errands and a promise to take the kids to the pool await.
Have a great day!

Download printable here.