Denver Patio Ride

This weekend was a special treat for me.  I did not pick up one can of spray paint, not one sewing needle, not even a vacuum.  Nope, instead I went out on the town... in true Denver STYLE!!  My best friend Heather is turning 27 and so we used this as the perfect excuse to head downtown to ride a giant bike in 90 degree weather.  For those of you who haven't heard of it, Denver Patio Ride is basically a 16 person bike that you and your friends peddle around and bar hop in Denver.  It is impossible to explain so here is a picture of us all on it.

Those are peddles under each seat! 

It was extremely hot but worth every minute!!  We started at a hot dog shop for $5 hot dog and beer special and then made our way through the streets of Denver... yes you ride this thing in traffic!! 

A couple of pictures of the fun time we had.  Me and the birthday girl:) 

Dave was hot so he lost his shirt and then to top if off he found a pink helmet.  Safety first.

And of course our trip would not have been complete unless someone planked.  If you do not know what "planking" is google it.  It is hilarious, and so stupid.  I think that's why I love it so much.  I call this the Patio Ride Plank. 

I had a fantastic time.  I missed Luci Rae but I am glad I took the weekend to have some fun with old friends.  Don't get me wrong, my idea of a good time is also a sunny day and a can of spray paint but it was a nice change of pace!  This week I am back to my boring mommy self but this weekend was fantastic!

One last pic of the ladies:)

I highly recommend this if you are looking for something ridiculous and fun to do! 

Another Birthday for my Mom... Won't tell how many:)

July 14th, 195.... my mom came into this world.  The most amazing part: this is also her mother's birthday.  That's right, can you imagine what an amazing birthday present that would be!  Every year this is a bitter sweet day for my mom as her mom is no longer with us.  In case you all didn't know, Luci Rae is named after my grandma: Mildred Lucille Hankins, Love you grandma but just couldn't name my sweet daughter Mildred lol. 

Any way, my mom is basically a life saver.  In more ways then you could imagine.  She is a flight nurse.  Yep you heard me right.  My 50 something year old mother flies around in helicopters picking up the seriously injured and sick for a living... talk about a thrill seeker.  So in that sense she is LITERALLY a life saver. 

What she doesn't know is what a life saver she is for me.  She watches my little girl 2 days a week while I toil away in the insurance world.  She does this without any strings attached.  She doesn't require payment, she doesn't complain, in fact she actually loves it!  All she asks is that I keep cookies in the pantry and coffee in the pot... seems like a reasonable request to me:)  So basically I would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to my amazing mother. 

Luci Rae thinks she is just hilarious!  I can't even begin to explain the peace of mind I get knowing that my baby is with someone who loves her as much as my mom does.  I don't always tell her how much she is appreciated, so mom... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

For her birthday I made her this. 

I found this really cool frame, took out the picture and attached chicken wire to the back.  It is perfect for holding photos.  So rustic and cute!  I saw a version of this at this really cool store in Castle Rock called the Barn... if you have been there you know how amazing it is!  I decided to make one instead.  Then I decided to make another:)

This one is a vintage frame that I painted blue and "antiqued" with sandpaper and glaze.  Love how it turned out!

On a side note... Remember how obsessed with flowers I am lately.  Well I found THIS shop on Etsy.  She makes flowers out of the coolest things.  Cards, romance novels, you name it.  Love the creativity and I totally want this hair clip!

It is made out of romance novels!  Thanks for your creativity

Little Asian Sweatshop!  Plus the name of her shop totally cracks me up.  I love it!  Show her some love if you have time:)

Top 7 Chalkboard Paint Projects

I am a day dreamer.  My mind is literally on super turbo mode 99% of my waking hours.  Even when I am feeding Luci at 2 in the morning I am coming up with my next big project.  Well, unfortunately most of the time these dreams stay just as that, an idea that gets lost once I fall back asleep... I am thinking I should start a journal of project ideas.  Then maybe I would be able to remember what it is I TOTALLY wanted to do!  This forgetfulness could be a result of nine months of no sleep or it could just be a genetic flaw my sweet, yet forgetful mother passed along.  I blame the latter:) 

Well, a little while ago I bought myself a handy dandy can of spray paint... remember???  It turns out, now that I have my lovely table, I want to spray paint EVERYTHING with chalkboard paint.  And thus my search began for fun projects with one little can of paint.  So, these were the top 7 ideas (in my humble opinion) that one person, so crazy as myself, would create with chalkboard paint.  7 you ask?  What a random number... the truth is I only had time for 7, there are probably a million out there!  Now just to find the time to do all of these!!

This vintage framed chalkboard from ShugabeeLane would be SO cute on Luci's door to her room.  She could leave little notes for me on it... yes I am aware that she is only 9 months old but hey they grow up quick:)

I buy and sell globes all the time and it just never occurred to me that this was an option!  So cool.  I think I would do it in a fun color though... did you know they actually make chalkboard paint in multiple colors!!!

I don't recycle as much as I would like.   I know I know, all of my attempts have been epic failures BUT if I made myself one of these maybe I would be inspired!

If you remember a few posts back I mentioned that I kill every plant ever... but maybe if I try REALLY hard I could keep a little herb garden... giving me a reason to make these adorable pots:)

With these awesome chalkboard labels from bradensgracewallart my spice cabinet would be so cool!!

My friend Amanda recently featured this on her blog and I agree with her... it rocks!  You can find it at shopdirtsa.

And for the grand finale of all awesomeness this is the most fantastic way I could EVER imagine to use this paint... Are you ready for this??? 

BAM!  Now that is fantastic.  WordGarden, thank you for your awesome creativity!!

So, if anyone out there has any more ideas, I am always up for suggestions... and gifts wink wink ;)

I Need Your Help!!!

I know this is probably jumping the gun since we are still waiting on an inspection but Kyle and I are under contract on a house.  This house is in a GREAT neighborhood and we got it for a GREAT price.  The only problem is, it was built in 1988 and when you walk into it you step back into your scrunchy wearing, bangs teased, t-shirt tied to the side, 80's self.  If we keep an open mind and are willing to do just a little updating this house will be fantastic.  Now this brings me to my problem.  The living room has a fire place.  I love the feature but there is a monstrosity of a mirror adorning the top.  This mirror is HUGE and would be very hard to take down. 

It doesn't look as bad in the pictures but I assure you it is an 80s nightmare!  Yes I am aware that the fan is terrible and will be replaced immediately I promise.  So imagine this... all hard wood floors, the bump outs on the fire place will be encased in real wood... and a beautiful new color on the walls... yet to be determined.  We will be doing something else with the tile around the fire place, possibly stone and adding a fun mantel.  But the question remains... what oh what to do with that mirror!  Kyle thought we could do something like paint latus ( a high end, chunky fun design ) and put it over the mirror so you could see some of the mirror through it.  I think this could be good but I am looking for any other suggestions... Lets get creative Peeps!  So, please please please give me any and all ideas... we are stumped!  Keep in mind taking it down may result in the loss of my husband so we are trying to avoid it :)

On a side note I found this adorable shop on Etsy the other day... a mommy's dream shop!  Snuggly Monkey. 


http://www.etsy.com/shop/snugglymonkeyco 

This shop is just so darn cute... I mean look at the name!  If you get a chance check out her adorable ouchie pouches.  The mommy in me says that I HAVE to have one!  I think they might be the cutest idea EVER.  Don't you remember when you were a kid and you fell down and all you wanted was an ice pack?  I mean, most of the time you didn't really need it but you still wanted it.  Well this is the cutest solution ever!  I might just have to get one of these for little miss Luci Rae!  Check out her shop if you have time :)

Shena's Shower Part 1

Ok peeps, I know that a long time ago... like MONTHS ago... I promised pictures from the fabulous baby shower we threw for my sister and her little bambina Stella June.  Well, I am a slacker and way too easily distracted so my photo editing and blogging promises got pushed aside.  Well, here is a little something for you all from that amazing day!  I am FAR from done editing but these are a few of what I have done so far.  Please note that I am NOT a professional artist or photographer so please don't judge... THANKS:)

The morning started with me painting this on Shena's belly... it's a cherry blossom tree for those of you who are confused :)

Then we commenced the picture taking extravaganza!  Here are a few from the day.

These are a combination of my photos and some that my mom's friend Catherine took.  She is AMAZING! 

After the photo extravaganza we commenced with the partying!!!

During the party we set up a table where people could decorate their own onsies.  It was such a cute idea... good job Janelle!  They all turned out SO cute and personal.  All we did was buy white onsies and buy t-shirt paint and iron on decals.  Then we let the ladies... and gentlemen... get their hands dirty!

Here is the proud daddy to be making his:)

And the final product:

Overall the day was fantastic.  I had so much fun and know Shena did too!  Stella will be a very spoiled baby :) 

More Flower Fun

If you didn't catch it from my last few posts I am obsessed with rosettes lately.  I just learned how to make fabric rosettes and then decided I wanted to learn how to make card stock flowers.  I have this tiny problem.  I love vases and flowers in my house.  The problem is I kill them.  It doesn't matter how much love I try to give flowers or plants I just kill them.  Then I get sad and frustrated and buy fake flowers.  While some fake flowers can be really cute a lot of the time they just end up looking cheesy and well... fake. 

Side note:

I am a loyal Etsy shopper (if you haven't been to Etsy you are really missing out! click on the blue LuciRae banner above and it will take you to my shop... and yes this is a shameless promotion:).  I always see these amazing card stock flowers for sale.  I decided, cheap as I am, that I would learn how to make some.  This was my first attempt.  I am going to try a few different styles but I really LOVE how these ones turned out. 

First you start by cutting a circle, the more imperfect and wavy it is the better.  Which is good for me because I am not so good with the scissors.  Then you cut the circles into spirals.  As mentioned before I am not so good with scissors so I just drew a spiral on the back and cut along my line.

Then you start rolling.  You start at the end and just roll it as tight as you can until you get to the center.

Then you just let go.  For some reason that part made me really nervous. HAHAHA but I did it... wonder if that says something about other aspects of my life?  You know, being afraid to just let go.  Any way, Dr. Phil will have to talk to me about that later, back to the flower.  See, when you let go it is fine:

Then you just hot glue the bottom so it stays in place.  I also hot glued some stems on the bottom so they could go in vases.  You could attach them to just about anything you wanted!

And VIOLA.  My un killable bouquet of flowers. 



Hope you all enjoy!  And if you buy a new house or invite me over for dinner or something of the sort you might just get yourself a bouquet as a housewarming gift:)

Another side note:

This is an awesome antique shop on Etsy that I LOVE.  She is having a 50% off sale for the holiday weekend.  It ends Monday so if you have time you should check her out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/UrbanCottageStudio

If you are looking to buy me a present... which I know you all are!  I have had my eye on this fantastic owl.  Why do I need him you ask yourself... I don't but how cute would he be in my house!! 

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