summer is in the air

It's time for happy drinks in jars. This one can be turned into a science experiment. Recipe via scrumdilly-do!

spoons and bowls and bowls and spoons

When  I was setting up for the mister's ice cream party, I realized that while we may have an excess of oddball items such as empty almond butter jars and oh...I don't know...sock monkeys. We lack things in number that may prove more useful such as spoons and ice cream bowls (ice cream bowls are very useful).

Before we hit the road on the BIG road trip, we tossed, donated, and sold oodles and oodles of stuff, crap, junk, and treasure. I think we should have kept the utensils and the bowls. Not ice cream bowls exactly but more bowls than we have (which is even less now as one of my latte bowls bit the dust a few weeks ago).

Luckily however (or sadly, depends on how you view it) mister and I are a bit socially inept and have not made many friends up here.  There are excellent people of quality that we do know, we're just inept enough to think they don't want to be bothered by us and so we tend to tuck our heads in the ground and pretend we are cartoon ostriches . So a lack of spoons for a partay isn't too lame. The family a-go-go is a fair number of people and I had just enough spoons to make it work for eating and for adding sprinkles and such. Can you tell we picked up most of our utensils from the thrift?

Mister and I used to have a quartet of small bowls we dubbed ice cream bowls that came from chinatown. They were the perfect size for two small scoops of ice cream (but probably for rice. I think they were rice bowls) and cute to boot...there were four and now there are two and two perfectly sized bowls for ice cream will not feed a family a-go-go of eight.

When all else fails or panic begins to creep in, it is Target to the rescue. Isn't that they way? I picked up two sets of malamine-like condiment bowls that were perfect in size and happy in color. All stacked up in a topsy-turvy tower is super smile inducing. At least to me it is...

And so there you have it. What accounts for excitement here in the a-go-go household. The acquisition of thriftshop spoons, and plastic bowls for the sole purpose of ice creaming it up...a-go-go style.

scenes from the mister's birthday

 We had the family a-go-go  over for homemade lemon buttermilk ice cream and snacks. i made a blackberry sauce for the ice cream and we set up some cones and cookies in case the whimsy took over. Our cupboards were cleaned out trying to find enough glasses for water and lemonade (and spoons, golly we have no spoons!) but it was all good and it was a kick in the pants, it was!  Rainbow sprinkles kind of make everything just a tad more festive, don't ya think? After mr. a-go-go opened his gifts, I passed around all the homemade cards mister made for me over the years. That boy sure has mad skills. Sigh. I find him quite dreamy. Adore.

I am my own worst critic...

I was watching a TedX video featuring SARK and loving every moment of it. She is a pretty awesome person. She was encouraging her listeners to write a love note to the self. She read hers and it was hysterical. I thought about what if I wrote my own and I grew weepy and teary. Truth be told, I have moments of "go me" where I feel ecstatic and happy and proud of the person I am but then the scary little voices creep in and tell me that really I am not all that. Nor do I deserve to be any such thing and I don't know why.

Active inner critics. Critical.

but then again I'm, also carmelizing onions...

the week in review: june 3-9

 

Much of the week was spent battling a sore throat that has now morphed into something more. It's not a cold, it's not a flu. I'm not sure if it is viral or bacterial. No fever but lots goo. Sigh. I've managed to keep from getting sick since Valentine's Day, not too shabby. 

So, back the the week in review...a whole lotta laziness do to sickiness and then a Sunday packed with stuff. Clockwise from the top left...Ice cream sandwich goodness for the mister's birthday shindig and pretty linens for the june bed. I did manage a wee bit of crafting aka pom pom making. I'm trying for a head start for the 4th! I picked up a bunch of new bowls. We were having family over for ice cream and well...since it is just the two of us, we are low on dishes. These condiment bowls from Target are the perfect size for ice cream. not being glass, they are also perfect for parties (I'm not posting for the big box store, I just really liked these bowls and they are in MY colors. I can;t find any evidence of them online, huh.)!

I got project from my list completed for Father's Day and had the mister model it. Seriously folks, friendship bracelets for dad made from shoelaces. So cool! I also got a couple of way way way WAY late birthday goodies mailed out to Zaza and Ander. Phew! Oh and lookie that homemade buttermilk ice cream! I used my new used ice cream maker for part of it. Yay for summer! And more june bed prettiness.

For the birthday shindig, along with homemade ice cream I made blackberry sauce from fresh blackberries. I used Vernors ginger ale for my liquid and partial sweetness and added a teaspoon of black pepper for heat. Delicious!

This ick has made me a smidge anal and working with preschoolers only adds to the mix so I spend a lot of time washing odd things like these pom poms I brought into the school for the kiddos to play with. Popped them onto a cookie sheet to dry and placed the cookie sheet on the front porch. Who knows what all my college aged neighbors think?

I made mister stop to take a photo for his birthday. He is not too happy to be all of 44.  I think he looks like a baby still. Next up, I worked on a project for scrumdilly-do! and had to photograph all of its pretty. Don't you think it is pretty? 

And finally...I feel a bit hungover form the week and thought this wee lampshade on the noggin was that perfect added touch. It's been a whirlwind and I've been coughing up a storm whilst typing up this post. Time for something hot to drink. Thank goodness it is my day off. Happy Birthday, mr. a-go-go!

scrumdilly diy: yarn wall medallions

This month's making the bed art was super fun and easy to do. My first three medallions were made from cardboard and when I realized I needed some more I used up a paper sack as I was out of cardboard. Paper bags are much easier to work with as is creating your circle without outlines. Here ya go!

Materials:

*yarn in a variety of colors

*tacky glue 

*sponge brush (optional)

*recycled paper bags or other sturdy paper

*scissors

 My jumping off point for this project involved this chunky neon red yarn. I like working with chunky yarn for this because a little goes a long way. I could not find other neon colors of the chunky kind so I rounded out my medallions with a combo platter of colors.

Cut open you paper bag and lay on a flat surface (sorry the pics are from the cardboard). I used the floor. Apply a large dollop of tacky glue and spread across the paper using your sponge brush or fingers. You could probably use white glue but Tacky Glue is thicker and more pliable.

Cut a length of yarn at least six inches to start and press one end down into the glue and gently wrap it around itself creating a spiral circle.

Continue applying glue as needed and  wrapping yarn around the circle until you get the diameter you like. Set aside to dry.

I made a few on my bag and cut them out after they were dry. If you are making a grouping, use the same colors in different combos so that they play well together without being too matchy-matchy.

 

Another plus for using paper instead of cardboard is that the paper does not curl nearly as much as the cardboard. It's also easier to hang. Add a loop of two of packing tape to the back and get to decorating.

 

Have a medallion party, serve round food, decorate with balloons, spin some records, and have fun!