I'm breaking for fun...

Andy's home from fishing and were having fun and enjoying the last few days before school, I'll check back in a few... hey, have a super fun time too!!

xxxxoooo Michelle

My Mini Marshmellow Headboard DIY...

Well, its not really mini marshmallows but...

Here's how I came up with my new headboard/wall art idea.  My daughter Nyla's pillow, "pilly" was getting pretty flat.

You see, "pilly" is about 4 years old now and has traveled back and forth to Costa Rica a bunch and has probably more frequent flier miles than a lot of people.  Nyla was getting pretty sad. We couldn't find another, not that we would ever replace "pilly" but I had to rectify my sad girl!  So we found the refill beans for bean bags and "pilly" was back in business.  

But, I still have this gigantic bag of beans left.  So I had to figure out what to do with them and my fun headboard is what I came up with.

Only 4 things needed:
bag of beans
tri-fold display board
spray glue for foam (Loctite spray adhesive)
very important to use the right glue-I didn't at first :(  
command strips (to hang your masterpiece)

Dodger

I have to tell you - 
This project could get messy, if your bag of beans spill out all over the floor and stick to you and everything else.

And take longer than you expect if your dog wants to help and you use the wrong glue at first and your foamy beans don't stick.  

Here's how we did it - 
We filled up a bunch of cups with beans and sprayed little sections at a time, starting from the middle and worked our way to edges.  

We found that if you dump a bunch of beans at once then they get clumpy.  It's difficult to flatten them smooth because they stick to you and everything else.  (think packing peanuts)

Just keep spraying and sprinkling beans until your done.  We also noticed that when you sprayed sometimes that would blast off the beans; so just go back and fill in empty areas.  After your finished, spray entire piece with glue.  It's fragile but pretty.

Nyla thought adding some rhinestones would glam it up.  Since, we don't have any of those in the house, it's done for now but she's totally right it will add a nice sparkle.

I still have about a bazillion beans left so if you want them, swing by!

Have fun using what you got and turn it into some "I did it" art!  xxxxoooo Michelle

Super thanks to my amazing daughter for helping me make this happen, I love you and your artistic flare!!

My takeout container became... shrinky dinky

Sleeping Rock Star Shrinkerella, her glam -  glam slipper and lots of luscious jewels. 

So here's how it happened, I looked up how to make home-made shrinkydinks HERE.  Of course, out of all the plastic containers I have collected none of them were #6 recycled.  So, I went and got some chicken wings and WOW, Rock Star Shrinkerella was born!

None of my shrinkys came out like I intended but all of them came out pretty fun and I think that's the cool, surprising thing about these little plastic recycle creations.

We had a family fun time creating these cute little droplets.  We'll definitely make these again... chicken wings anyone?

xxxxoooo Michelle

Thanks Curbly for helping me create Shrinkerella and being a place where I can go for tons of inspiration - you ROCK!

FRIENDS, SWEET FRIENDS...

hi this is Nyla so guess what?  I am going to Cade's birthday party.  I'm going to go to the board walk to see a play with her.  I've known Cade for a long time! the end. 




Cade and Nyla don't see each other that often but when they do they pick up just where they left off.  I love watching their special friendship grow, they are just so sweet together!

Here they are waiting for the boardwalk rides to open & the cotton candy!

Their checking out the fish or are they thinking of jumping in?



Here's to sweet and growing friendships! xxxxxooooo Michelle

COCONUTS ANYONE?...more Costa Rica love

When we're in Costa Rica we get a little coconut crazy!

One of the beautiful things about Costa Rica is  there are palm trees everywhere; you can pick the coconuts and have a nice free drink.  Yummy coconut water is just waiting for you...

Makayla, Amaya, Andy & Nyla enjoying coconut bliss!

Here is a beautiful you tube video that our friend, Tiffany made.  It gives you the great feeling of the dreamy days of Costa Rica. 

Enjoy!  PURA VIDA  

(you can see Andy's quick coconut catch & the hammock amusement park ride that I talked about when I snuck away)  

xxxxoooo Michelle

I'm not feeling it...

hey yall, I'm a little blue, don't know why really...I have everything,  I guess I'm in a creative funk, I've tried a few things and they just flopped.  Summer is coming to a close that may have something to do with my mood too.   
You know when you were a kid and you had glue and your parents said, "don't glue your fingers together" that happened to me! Today!   Andy just left for a fishing trip that  adds to my blueness, I know my blue will turn to pink, sunshiny yellow soon (I'm hoping for some Reiki and a great nights sleep) but I just thought I'd send you a "Hey" and a hug   xxxxooo Michelle

Summer time ...

Best buds - Nyla, Stella and Leo after tomato pickin'

Tomato Yumminess!

Nothin better than an assortment of freshly picked tomatoes and basil, a little left over turkey, a variety of cheeses and a sprinkle of olive oil on nan bread, so yummy!

Thanks Jay for the tomatoes, the kids had a blast roaming thru your amazing garden & Sara for having such sweetie pie kids and fun ideas!

Check out more of this best bud trio and their
Kid sweetness!    xxxxooo Michelle

BEACH TIME FUN/5 MIN CRAFT

Who would of thought a bunch of these brushes (24 for $1) and some of those circle things ($1) and some scrap paper that we would come up with this... 

I guess we're really enjoying our beach time!

I just love pretty beach towels & hangin with my friends!

Enjoy every moment of summer because it's slipping away!! 

xxxxoooo Michelle

GLITTER GLAM NAIL POLISH...DIY

Today we made Glitter Glam nail polish.  Before we went on vacation, I splurged and bought a pricey glitter nail polish.  I got quite a few compliments on it. When we got home I thought hmm... I could make this.  Easy peasy!

I already had clear nail polish and glitter.  I used white glitter.  That didn't show up so I added gold glitter to it.  Well, the gold glitter kind of turned the clear nail polish yellowish.  Yuck!  I was determined!  Nyla and I went to the dollar store, pronto and bought 3 bottles of clear nail polish, (actually it's top coat and we decided to keep 1 bottle clear).

This time we chose silver and blingy purple glitter.  It worked!  

Just like the expensive multi-glitter kind that I bought, you really have to shake our custom version and you have to decide how much glitter look you want because it doesn't come out even.  

I chose full on silver glam and a sprinkle of purple, kinda like confetti.  I think both colors are super fun for a night out, beach time or to glam up a trip to the grocery store :)

I can't wait to use the silver glitter polish for the holiday season!  Wow, what about red and pink.  How fun; the possibilities are endless!  

Can you tell I'm a little glitter crazed right now?

Hey, I hope you have a super fun day! xxxxoooo Michelle

When I started writing this post, I noticed Nyla painting her nails, she was just dipping the nail brush into the left over glitter that was on the paper in the picture.  I guess you can do it that way too, go figure!  

In case you didn't know my daughter, Nyla loves glam, and she has quite a style!  Check out a glammy different way she did her fingernails HERE and how she made my heart melt.
  

Guest Writer - Nyla!

Hi Everyone!  Today, my daughter Nyla is my Super Special guest writer!  She is going to talk about her book, Dog Moments.



Dog moments is my dog book and I cut the pictures out of magazines. It also has fun facts about dogs! My book is great! Thanks to Dodger and Martine for inspiring me.

I hope you like it. Love Nyla


Nyla just loves her "guys" I think its so awesome that she wrote a book about them!  She let me "check out" her book from her library, I have to return it by Monday or I have to pay a late fee.  After that, its available for you to check out.

As always, thanks for stopping by! xxxxooo Michelle

Mangos Oh My...

For years we've been waiting for this moment!  We planted Mango trees on our property in Costa Rica so many years ago.  The dream of  picking the fruit off the tree seemed like it would never happen.

One day we got a call saying there was a fire we lost all our trees but thankfully not our home, so we re-planted them, other times when we returned the irrigation got chopped up or stomped on by cows and we nearly lost them due to lack of water.  But for the past few years we heard, "Wow, your mango trees have tons of delicious mangos!"

Well this time, they fruited, we were there and we finally got to eat them!  YAY!

It might seem silly to some to be so in love with a tree but we are...I mean how could you not be when they feed us?

So I spent alot of my time hangin in my hammock and admiring our mango trees...

The squirrels look so different than our squirrels in the US

I couldn't talk about our mango trees without sharing a couple of our favorite recipes.

I'm all about simple recipes and these are about as simple as it gets! 

These are Nyla's favorites and we eat them from breakfast to desert in the states or Costa Rica.  (it really is sweeter when you can pick them from your tree rather than buying them from a chain supermarket).

Nyla loves mangos when their green.

Green Mango Slices 

(sorry no picture, they always got gobbled up so quick)

Cut unripe mango into slices.

Sprinkle with salt

A Squeeze of lime juice

Mango Brulee

Cut mango in half and remove the pit

Score each half 

Add honey or sugar

Sprinkle with cinnamon

Bake or Broil 

(depending on how ripe your mangos are determines which and how long - if super ripe just broil)

We used home-made honey given to us by our neighbors.  Thanks Steve and Cindy!

Enjoy and go hug a tree today, they really love that!! xxxxoooo Michelle

I snuck away...

Ok this was a spur of the moment sneak away, and since I was in a rush I forgot to tell you...we went to Costa Rica.  I kept thinking...I'll get to use the Internet at some point but that just didn't happen.  So while we were gone we enjoyed life without Internet, phone & tv.  Now that I'm back, I'm having a real hard time getting back in the blogging grove or even turning on the computer.

Our days were empty but full of just what we needed. Here are a few pictures to show you what I mean...

Nyla and Makayla having some "calm" hammock time (boy they can really do some crazy flips and stuff, who knew a hammock could also be an amusement park ride!)

My favorite church in Costa Rica...I just love it!

There will be more I promise I just have to stop daydreaming.  Hey, I really appreciate you stopping by! My blog door is always open for you!  

 :) xxxxooo Michelle