Peach Love

It's Peach Season. We went to the Big Farmers Market over the weekend and loaded up with fresh fruit (and other yummies to be shared later).



Got a whole bag of mixed varieties of peaches and nectarines for $1.50/lb.

I knew right away I wanted to make my favorite Peach Tart.



It's a Paula Deen recipe that I have made many times - using all different kinds of fruits and glazes.



The recipe calls for peach jam thinned with orange juice for the glaze. Instead I used some home made Apricot Jam given to me by a friend (thanks Shannon), and Mango Juice (because that's what we have in the fridge).



I should have paid a bit more attention the the type of Peaches we bought. These were definitely not Free Stone - so I had to wrestle the slices off the pit and they ended up a little messy.

But that's OK, because it's kind of a rustic desert after all.

So Easy, So Yummy and So Forgiving.

Go and give it a try - before all the peaches are gone.

Graduation Card

My nephew graduated from high school a few weeks ago and is getting ready to head off to Penn State in the fall.

We weren't able to make it (across the country) to the party, but I did get a card in the mail.



It's made in an envelope style so the money holder slips out from one end.

The letters were cut with my Cricut machine - I used a variety of assorted sizes to get them to fit across the narrow space.

The "2011" year was printed on my computer and then punched using a 1 3/4" circle punch that nests perfectly inside the 2" scallop punch.



Since this was going in the mail, I didn't want to send cash. Instead, I printed out a 100 dollar bill (from a clip art site) and used it to hide the check that is included behind.

On the back of the money holder portion - I included a hand written note. Everything was sized to fit into a standard Letter Sized envelope for mailing (note, I did cover with a piece of heavy cardstock to prevent the embellishments from rubbing through the envelope).

All solid cardstock is from Bazzill. The patterned papers are from a (never completed) project from a few years ago, so I'm unsure of the name.

Shower Rats

This is what I found in the shower this morning!

A gift from my daughter - intended for my hubby - because he had shrink wrapped her toilet seat the night before and placed this little guy on top.

I can only imagine what would have happened if she had woken in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Luckily - she was fairly wide awake and noticed him right away.
{insert loud shrilly shriek that caused me to jump out of bed}



I think this little rubber rat has been hanging around our house since Halloween. Somehow he was forgotten when all the decorations were put away.



It all started with my husband - who decided it would be funny to put said rubber rat into Little K's shoe one day!



Since then he has been making the rounds. He goes into hiding for a few weeks, then re-appears when you least expect him. Where you least expect him.

In the underwear drawer....under a bed pillow...in the pantry....inside the coffee canister....tucked into a backpack...



Not exactly what I consider funny - but little K most definitely does.
(see some of their other antics here)

I love that they have this little game together - and that in the middle of a busy work week (for my hubby) with long hours and early mornings, he takes the time to shrink wrap the toilet seat and hide a rubber rat.

Ok - maybe it is just a little funny.

Note: all photo credits go to Little K and the Instagram app on her iPod touch

Fathers Day Photo Gift

I have been thinking of doing something like this since Little K was a baby - so this idea is 10 years in the making (have you noticed I'm a bit of a procrastinator)?

It was so much fun to do, because Little K was able decide on all the creative details herself.




We went to the craft store and purchased big white letters. There were lots of options to choose from (font style, size, color).



These were the ones Little K decided on. The only problem was - they were none of the Letter "I" in stock.



No Problem!

We purchased the Letter "L" instead.



And with a quick swipe of the chop saw - Problem Solved.



She had so much fun making goofy faces and trying different posts. After taking about 150 shots - we uploaded the photos where she could choose her favorites.

A quick edit to Black and White, some simple cropping and they were sent to be developed at our favorite Walgreens 1 hour photo shop.

The picture frame was also purchased at the craft store - simple black frame with a 3 photo matte included.



She added a personal message and her signature/date to the matte before it was put back together.

All totaled I think this project cost less than $30, and just a few hours to put together.

It's perfect with our ONLY child posing in all 3 photos, but would be just as cute with siblings each holding a different letter.

There are even large craft heart shapes that could be made or purchased and painted white (making the heart with her hands and still managing to smile was kind of difficult).
Families with 2 siblings could have the kids pose holding the heart together in the middle frame - the possibilities are endless.

A handmade Fathers Day gift that I know, will soon be proudly displayed in Daddy's office.