Martha Stewart Paper Bag Puppets

Cailin came to visit from Kauai over Memorial Day weekend!! Of course, she brought gifts with her. She always does. She brings Ivy and I clothes and usually some fun activities for Ivy too. This time it was Martha Stewart "Make-Your-Own" puppets she got at a garage sale! NEW IN PACKAGE! All for $1.00!

Her and Ivy had a blast doing them together. Cailin hates taking pictures, so being the good friend that I am, I didn't make the weekend all about photographing our activities. 

They came with super-easy instructions.

Aren't they cute?! We've also been making bears, lobsters, peacocks, elephants and frogs. Note: don't leave your 2.5 year-old alone with the puppet packets... she disassembled a few of them and we had to get creative.

These puppet kits are really expensive at the store. But now that I've done them, and know how much fun they are, I would maybe, just maybe, consider buying one!! Maybe...

And if you like the fabric bucket, you can see that post here. And I'm sure you recognize the table and chairs from here. Thanks for the fun gifts, Cailin!

Aloha, Rebecca

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Lilikois and Smoothies

I love Summer. It's not like anything is any different here in Hawaii... it's maybe 5 degrees warmer. The sun sets at 7:00pm instead of 6:00pm. There are a ton of tourists on the island making traffic terrible... but for some reason I love summer. My work schedule is totally different and I love it. The best thing about summer is the lilikoi's are ripe! (I think they're a.k.a passion fruit). Ivy calls them "Lilitois." Hahahaha. So cute.

I started making smoothies with Ivy. 

The idea that all those nutrients are mixed into one yummy drink is awesome. 

Here's what we use:

-some kind of veggie/fruit juice

-frozen berries

-frozen chopped spinach

-vanilla yogurt

-milk

-any other fruit we have laying around (like lilikois)

-ice

Ivy loves to help make them too!

And she loves holding the lid on... Don't worry, I help her. This photo is staged for effect.

She likes it, I promise... :)

PS: Cailin gave her that dress. It's from a garage sale. 

I love how Cailin knows what we need/like at garage sales. 

Yay for Lilitois! And Smoothies!

Aloha, 

Becca

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$2 Shelf - COMPLETED!

I took on the March "Before & After" challenge at www.shineyourlightblog.com. My first project was the $2 shelf. See the original post here.

BEFORE:

in process...

AFTER:

Painted in Shiloh

top shelf

 middle shelf...

bottom shelf...

The brown catch-alls in the center and the crystal one on the right were my grandma's. The brown one has a note in it from my grandma. Those kinds of things make me really happy.

The shelf is up on our bedroom wall, and now that it's up, I really want to paint the walls. A pool blue? Grey? Sage? Celery? I think it would make the shelf look better. But how can I justify to my landlords that I should be able to paint the walls because I want a shelf to look better? 

I had actually finished the shelf a couple weeks ago. I hung it up, staged it, didn't take any photos, then got a text from my husband a few hours later: 

"Your shelf was hanging by a thread 

with half of the stuff you had on it on the ground..."

Oops. Thank you Kit for hanging my shelf properly. Thank you to the people who had the garage sale last month who gave this to me for $2. :)

Aloha, 

Becca

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$0.50 Hanging Planter

Since I work every Saturday, I've been hitting garage sales on Sundays. One of our teenage captains at work, (yes, you, Kaitlen...) says I have a problem: "If you're going to garage sales on Sundays, I think you have a problem." This is what she says to me as we're driving to classes every Saturday and I'm looking longingly at the garage sale signs we pass, instead of at the road. 

I don't have a problem. I just have a scheduling conflict. 

Well a few Sundays ago, Ivy and I left church to go scope out the sales. I found this beauty:

$0.50. That's right... $0.50!

Then the lady threw in a ton of trinkets for Ivy-- 

-#1 reader necklace/medal thing-y

-a Jasmine Trias single from when she was on American Idol

-some more Excellent Reader memorabilia

-a thick plastic red bangle (which I plan to steal from Ivy and Modge Podge vintage fabric to it...)

The wires were a little uneven, but they adjusted soooooo easy. 

I put it up on our lanai and stole a few flowers my mom had left over from her Sunday School craft. About two weeks later she finally noticed the hanging planter was up and said, 

"I was wondering where all the flowers went." 

(We live next door to my parents... it took her 2 weeks to even notice the planter... haha, I love my mom). 

 

I got that chime at my baby shower from some friends on Kauai. It was hung above Ivy's changing table for her to stare at. Now that she's done with the changing table, we hung it on our lanai. 

It's the simple things in life. Like a $0.50 garage sale hanging planter. How long till I brush it lightly with my go-to paint color, Shiloh?

--Becca

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