Bottle Cap Art

A few years ago, I saw this post on Chez Larsson, of Benita's craft corner, which includes framed collections of bottle caps organized by color. Here are a few more pictures on her Flickr Photo Stream. I have collected random bottle caps, not sure what I would do with them, until I saw these!

I continued collecting bottle caps over the years, until I had enough to use. I knew I probably had some frames to use, and as I cleaned the the garage this week, I found two that were perfect, and the right depth. I just wanted to paint them white. I used some left over paint, and transformed them.

Then I cut some mat board into two squares to fit the frames. They are a little larger, as they will attach to the back of the frame to create a shadox box effect. I laid out the caps and arranged them until I liked the way they look. Then I measured on the mat board where they would go, making dots to show where each cap would be, so they would line up and be spaced correctly.

To attach the caps, I used foam sticky pads from Hobby Lobby. They are about 1/4" thick, I stacked 3 to get the right depth, then attached the caps in the order I wanted.

After that, I just attached the mat board to the back of the frame, added a hanger, and installed them on the wall in my kitchen!! They turned out great!!!

Organization of Jewelry and Scarves

I have a small piece of wood with some decorative knobs that I made to hang necklaces in my closet. It seems I now have more necklaces than it will hold!! I thought of making an additional one, until I came across a photo online ( I would link, but can't find again), where someone used a utensil bar to sort jewelry and scarves.
Off I went to the garage, where I had one I purchased years before I bought my house, hoping to use it in my someday kitchen (only to find there was nowhere to mount it in my house!). I kept it, being the pack-rat that I am, knowing I would find some way to use it. Voila!

It was easy to hang, and works perfect for jewelry and scarves. I can add more hooks if needed (if I can find, I bought this one on clearance at The Home Depot, but I'm sure I can find something similar to use for hooks). Now I need to make more necklaces to fill it in...!!!

Garden Update

Wow!! I have remembered regular watering and feeding, and it shows!! Especially the container plants, they have turned into MONSTERS!! Beautiful!

No growth from the Peonies, thinking I must have done something wrong here. There should be at least some greenery coming up???

One of the dahlias didn't make it, not sure why, they are all in the same area, and have been nurtured the same. Of the 2 that are left, one is healthier than the other. Again, puzzled??

The gladiolus are looking good, great green shoots, I can't wait for flowers!! I might need to stake these if they get taller, but some are about at the height it describes on the package (Tiny Tot variety 20-24" height)

It is getting hotter, so they are requiring water every day (had been getting by with every other day). I think we have had less rain that usual so far, hopefully that it not a trend for the summer!!

April Photo A Day

Instagram is one of my favorite photo apps on iPhone. I came across the photoaday list when it appeared from another user on my newsfeed. There are many versions of photo a day/picture a day, but this one is by fatmumslim (visit her blog here)
I joined this project part way through the month, so it is not complete. Look for the whole month of May!

Here are the April prompts and my photos:

Day 12: stairs. attic
Day 13: something you found. ticket
Day 14: how you feel today. stylish
Day 15: sunset. sunset
Day 16: flower. lily
Day 17: something you don't like. working late
Day 18: hair. mine
Day 19: orange. table at restaurant
Day 20: something I drew. week in the life sketches
Day 21: bottle. housewarming gift for a friend
Day 22: the last thing you bought. skirt at Anthropologie
Day 23: vegetable. lunch
Day 24: something you are grateful for. spending time with a friend who now lives out of state
Day 25: looking down. stock build up order arrived
Day 26: black and white. sunset
Day 27: somewhere you went. lunch
Day 28: 1 PM. manager on duty, tracking credit participation
Day 29: circle. planter
Day 30: something that makes you sad. already depressed, this rain is NOT helping my mood!

Bucket List #6 New Restaurant 1 of 10

Sky Modern Japanese

A new restaurant opened in the shopping center where I work called Sky Modern Japanese. We have been awaiting their opening, and finally received an email from the development announcing their "soft opening". My co-worker and I decided to try it today for lunch. Our manager had been on Saturday and loved it!

They have a sushi bar, a drink bar, hibatchi and regular tables where you can order any of their offerings. Neither of us are big on sushi, but love hibatchi. It is always fun to watch them cook!

We both ordered chicken and vegetables, and the cook did food for a table order also, so we enjoyed watching him prepare that, too. The creamy mushroom soup was EXCELLENT!! A little spicy, but very good.

The meal was really good! It was chicken with vegetables, and choice of white or fried rice. It all had very good flavor. This is definitely somewhere we will eat again!!!

Bucket List #34 Bread Recipe 1 of 10

Classic White Bread

I have never baked bread from scratch (using yeast and actually kneading the dough, letting it rise, etc.) but I love to bake sweets and pumpkin bread.

I want to try some bread recipes to make, to eat with meals, or just with butter! One of my goals on my bucket list is to bake 10 different bread recipes. I decided to start with a simple one, and it turned out to be the recipe on the package of Kroger brand yeast! (recipe at the end of the post)

I follwed to recipe exactly (except using regular all purpose flour instead of bread flour). I think it turned out great for a first time bread maker!!!

Classic White Bread Recipe

All dry ingredients should be at room temperature (70-85 F)

2 3/4 c bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 c water
1/4 c margarine or butter, melted
1 packet Active Dry Yeast
1 9"x5" loaf pan (greased)

Follow packet directions to dissolve the yeast. Proceed with recipe. In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 c flour, salt and margarine or butter. Add 3/4 c of warm water (105-115F) and foaming yeast mixture to dry ingredients, stirring very well. Stir in remaining 1 1/4 c of flour to make a soft dough. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, usually about 9 to 10 minutes. Cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes on a floured surface. Roll out the dough to a 12"x8" rectangle. Beginning at the shortest ends, roll the dough up tightly. Seal each end by pinching down at the seams. Place the dough, seam facing down in a greased 9"x5" loaf pan. Cover completely and allow to rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, usually about one hour. Bake at 375F for 30 to 35 minutes or until the bread is golden brown in color. Remove from bread pan and allow to cool on wire rack. Slice bread into 3/4" to 1 1/4" slices. Makes about 9 servings.

Bucket List #14 Grow Herbs

One week later, they are still alive!!! I purchased existing established plants, one basil and one cilantro. These are two herbs I use a lot, basil on pizza and cilantro in salsa. I have used the basil twice on pizza. Hopefully I will do a better job of keeping these alive this year than I did last year!!!

Gardening

This year for some reason, I am very excited about yardwork! (???) I have many existing plants, mostly greenery and shrubs, and usually I plant some annuals for color.

This year, I decided I want to try to grow some cut flowers, and do some decorative containers. I had an idea what I wanted in the containers, coleus, but not sure what to put with them for another color. A friend at work suggested sweet potato vine. I love the 'neon' green color, and it works well in the combination. I'm afraid it might overtake the coleus, but for now they are living happily in pots on each side of the screened porch door.

For the cut flowers, I really want to grow peonies. I bought some roots and planted them, but they won't flower until next year at the earliest. I will have to learn patience in this gardening adventure!!!

For cut flower blooms this year (crossing my fingers!), I planted Dahlias and Tiny Tot Gladiolus mix. So far so good, I see greenery coming up!

My existing plants all look great, I don't really have to do much with them, weed, water and Miracle Gro!!



Bucket List #13 Wine 1 of 10

Stonewood Cellars Moscato

What can I say except I LOVE this one, and it was inexpensive!! I'm not an expert on describing wines, but this is definitely sweet.

Birthday Bucket List

Around Blogland I have seen these lists of projects/activities/goals people wish to complete between their birthdays, usually coordinated to the number of their age. Check out this one by Elise and this one by Emma.

It inspired me to create my own "Birthday Bucket List". I like Em's 31 things before 32, as it was a total life adventure, not just project driven (I need to get out of the house!). Some of my items are projects, and they have their own numbers, I just picked a nice round amount for a goal, It may sound ambitious, but a lot of these types of projects are things I do often, and this will hold me accountable for completing things!!!

I plan to document the "crossing off" of many of the items from the list on this blog, and also in a scrapbook format. Stay tuned...

35 THINGS BEFORE I TURN 36

1. Visit the Beach
2. Read 50 books
3. Take a creative class (in person or online)
4. Run a Marathon (OK, mostly run)
5. Master 10 new Photoshop techniques
6. Try 10 new restaurants
7. Finish decorating the guest room/office
8. Visit a National Park
9. Visit 5 State Parks (that I have not been to)
10. Float a river
11. Hike 5 trails
12. Go to a winetasting at a local vineyard
13. Try 10 new wines (at the tasting doesn't count!)
14. Grow herbs
15. Host a dinner party
16. Make 20 new recipes
17. See a musical at the theater
18. Build a piece of furniture
19. Create (and print) a photobook
20. Make 12 crafts/projects I have pinned in Pinterest
21. Visit a friend/relative out of state
22. Learn to play an instrument
23. Grill ribs
24. Complete 10 sewing projects
25. Attend a formal event (not a wedding)
26. Complete 10 digital scrapbook layouts
27. See a Professional sporting event
28.Go camping!
29. Complete 5 knitting projects
30. Make the quilt for my bed
31. Volunteer (church, library, community)
32. See 10 movies at the theater (I do not go enough!)
33. Crochet a ripple blanket (lap/throw size)
34. Bake 10 loaves of bread from scratch
35. Blog regularly (Ok, hopefully 2-3 posts per week)
36. Wear everthing in my closet that still has a tag on it or remove it the item from the closet!)

OK, that last one is kinda funny, but much needed!

Here we go...stay tuned!!!