If you know me at all, you know that a challenge to me is not something to be ignored, in fact, its something I take very serious. Someone asked me once if I could shove this piece of cake in my mouth all at once, and as soon as I feel like there is a challenge on the table, well I will show you that I can. I did shove that cake in my mouth, unfortunately I did spit it out again, but I did shove it right back in(which made everyone sick) and chewed and swallowed the whole thing. That just tells you I have a big mouth and that I will do whatever it takes to prove to you that I can do it!

Well Evan from A Nerd Like Me challenged me to make a shirt like this one below from J Crew. Evan how did you know that J Crew was one of my favorite stores??

J Crew's Hand-cut Flower Art Tee

I take your challenge Evan! Now I have to find me a v-neck tee.

Check back!

In May my husband will graduate from Seminary and in June my daughter graduates from High School. The overwhelming responsibilities have been haunting me lately, I have thought about what I need to do so much that I am dreaming about it. Decorations, invitations, food, house space, redoing the yard, too many things to think about and really not a lot of time. Lately I have spent a lot of time looking at wedding sites and have come up with some great ideas on decorating and invitations and I am excited about those possibilities. I know they are wedding sites but you would be amazed at how just changing up one aspect of it or color and they can be used for any occasion.

Something cheap and sweet like these candy apples courtesy of My DIY Wedding Day.

These cute pom-poms in school colors would be great decorations, courtesy of My DIY Wedding Day.

And who wouldn’t want to receive one of these Thank Yous? Courtesy of d. Sharp Journal.

How about you? Do you have any ideas for me? I would love to hear from you!

Ok I may be the only one that is excited about this but I found my very own sock monkey socks at the goodwill. Yep, they were brand new, never worn, ready to sew on a face and stuff to make it look like a sock monkey. I still need to find a pattern but am just so excited to get these started. Watch out my friends, one of these may be coming to you for your next birthday! I look at these socks and can just see the sock monkey smiling back at me.

A friend of mine sent me an email last week and said she would be giving me a gift on Sunday that she made and told me I could use it for Recycled Lovelies. I was excited to see what it was. She said she made these with her kids/grandkids in the past and thought I might enjoy it. And she was right, it smells wonderful and is adorable. In fact the first thing I did was say, ‘Do you smell that?’ to everyone in the car. It was this cute canning jar filled with potpourri, topped with a votive candle holder, with a candle inside and ribbon tied around the jar. Adorable and simple! I love it, thank you Cathe!

The best part of this DIY gift is that you can use any old jar, from pasta sauce, mayonnaise to whatever you have laying around. You should also check out your local thrift store for some votive holders and canning jars. The only thing you would need to buy is some potpourri and a votive, but those can be really cheap. I have not made my own potpourri before but here are a few recipes to try if you are adventurous:

Make Your Own Potpourri – from dabneyherbs

Homemade Potpourri 101 – from tipnut

I want to make a ruffle scarf, I see them everywhere and I need a little something to make me feel pretty. I am so excited. It looks so delightful! I think I am going to stay up late tonight to work on this. I mean I usually can’t sleep anyway, so why not use my time wisely and get something done. Right??

Here are a few examples of what I might try:

A version of a ruffle scarf from Banana Republic

Another version from Anthropologie

Yet another from Anthropologie

Aren’t they just lovely?

Check back tomorrow and hopefully I will have accomplished my goal.